History of 317 Main Street – Waitsburg, WA

Abbreviated Legal Description

Waitsburg Lots 3 and 4 Block. 17

Full Legal Description

Lots 3 and 4 in Block “B” [now Block 17] of the City of Waitsburg, Washington, according to the Official Plat thereof recorded in Volume A of Plats, at Page 35, records of Walla Walla County, State of Washington.  Situated in the City of Waitsburg, County of Walla Walla, State of Washington.

Title and Occupant History

Sylvester M. Wait established the Township of Waitsburg in 1865 around a small gristmill he had built.  The original name of the small village that grew up around the mill was Delta; it was decided by popular vote in 1868 to adopt the name Waitsburgh with a posterior “h” affixed.  William P. (Perry) Bruce was granted a patent for 160 acres located in the West ½ of the Southwest ¼ of Section 11 by the Vancouver, Washington Territory  Land Office on 7/2/1866.  Although one source states that no attempt was made to plat the township until 1869 when Perry Bruce undertook this task, the Waitsburg City Administrator, Clerk and Treasurer confirmed the date of the first plat as 1868.  The house at 317 Main Street occupies Lots 3 and 4 of what was originally Block B, later changed to Block 17, of Preston’s Subdivision of the Town of Waitsburg, platted by William G. and Matilda Preston and recorded by the County Auditor 3/27/1871.

The Territorial Legislature issued a regular Charter to the City of Waitsburg November 25, 1881.   William Preston, mill owner, was mayor.  Under the charter, the city was incorporated with the usual powers for the creation of a police force, fire department and water works, and the enforcement of regulations for the safety, health and order of the city.  Waitsburg remains to date the only city in Washington to operate under a Territorial Charter, as revised in 1886.

6/3/1870, Warranty Deed, William P. and Caroline A. Bruce, grantors: William G. Preston, in trust for A. Cox,

Preston Bros., William Vawter and William Fudge, grantees, Commencing at the North West corner of Lot no. 11 in Block No. 10 in the Town of Waitsburg, Walla Walla County, W.T. and running thence South to the North West corner of a lot of land sold by William P. Bruce and wife to the Directors of School District no. 3, thence East to a line dividing the original homestead claim of D. Willard and William P. Bruce, thence North along said line to a point due East of the place of beginning, thence West to the place of beginning, $1,200.

3/27/1871, Preston’s Subdivision of the Town of Waitsburg was platted and filed as five blocks (A through E) containing a total of 52 building lots.

6/19/1877, Warranty Deed, William G. and Matilda Preston, grantors; Joseph Robinette, grantee, Lots 1 through 4 of Block B., Preston’s Subdivision, $165.

9/8/1881, Warranty Deed, Joseph and Mary Robnet [sic], grantors; Nathaniel G. Rice, Lots 1 through 4 as above, $900.  The substantial increase in price for the four lots from June 1877 to September 1881 suggest the house on Lot 1 in the birdseye view below was constructed between those years.

9/16/1886, Warranty Deed, Nathaniel and Elisibeth E. Rice, grantors; Lewis Neace, grantee, Lots 1 through 4, $1,200.  Lewis Neace was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1835.  At age 12, he sailed for the United States with an uncle and never saw his family again.  By 1858 he had arrived in The Dalles where he became employed under Army Lt. John Mullen.  (Mullen was charged with constructing the first road east from Fort Walla Walla across the Rockies to Fort Benton on the Missouri River, a distance of 611 miles.)  Eventually settling on the Tucannon River at present day Starbuck, Mr. Neace later moved to Dayton, then settled in Waitsburg where he farmed, in time becoming president of First National Bank of Waitsburg.  He married Elizabeth Harrington of Walla Walla in 1864. He and Elizabeth had six sons and two daughter.  Lewis and Elizabeth had a Chinese cook named China Jim whom the children loved to tease.  Lewis Neace died in 1916, a wealthy man who had amassed 50,000 acres to leave to his eight children.  Both Lewis and Elizabeth are buried in Waitsburg City Cemetery.

3/16/1891, Decree, in the Superior Court of Walla Walla County, State of Washington, William G. Preston, Trustee & Plaintiff vs. Homer B. King, Guy B. King and, Ralph E. Smith.  B. L. and J. L. Sharpstein were attorneys for defendants, B. L. Sharpstein having been duly appointed by the Court as guardian ad litem for and on part of all defendants and appearing as guardian on their behalf.  The Court found that the defendants’ claims, right, title and interest to the land sold by William P. and Carolyn A. Bruce to the Directors of School District No. 3 (see Warranty Deed of 6/3/1870) were invalid.

3/16/1891, Deed of Confirmation, confirming the sale of land by William P. and Caroline A. Bruce to William G. Preston in trust for A. Cox, said firm of Preston Brothers consisting of William G. Preston and Platt A. Preston, William Vawter and William Fudge on 6/3/1870.

2/24/1900, Declaration of Homestead, Silas W. Smith to The Public, declares that he is the head of a household consisting of his wife and 5 children and for more than 10 years has resided with his family on the premises described as Lots 3 and 4 of Block B in the Town of Waitsburg, County of Walla Walla, Washington.

10/30/1916, Richard H. Ormsbee, attorney for Lewis Neace, deceased, statement that the value of the deceased’s real estate was $496,911.04 and his personal property as $511,251.42, and that the deceased was free from all debts.

10/30/1916, Richard H. Ormsbee, attorney for Lewis Neace, deceased, statement that the estate of the deceased is granted to his widow and their six sons and two daughters.

8/11/1920, Quit Claim Deed, all children and spouses of the children of Lewis Neace, deceased, grantors; Elizabeth Neace, a widow, grantee, Lots 1 through 4 of Block B and numerous other properties in Walla Walla County, $1.

6/1/1929, Quit Claim Deed, the children of Elizabeth Neace, deceased, and their spouses, grantors; Charles Neace, son of Lewis and Elizabeth Neace, both deceased, grantee, Lots 1 through 4, Block B, $10 and other valuable consideration.

4/20/1931, Statutory Warranty Deed, Charles and Eva Neace, grantors; Sarah Dolly Neace Malone, grantee, Lots 3 & 4, Block B, $1.  This transaction marks the first separation of Lots 3 & 4 from Lots 1 & 2.  Sarah Malone was the granddaughter of Lewis Neace and daughter of one of Lewis’s and Elizabeth’s children, Lewis T. (Lou) Neace.  Although her surname appears on this deed as Malone, and she was in fact married to Calvin Malone, Lyman’s History of Old Walla Walla County mentions that she was married to Seymour F. Patton, postmaster of Waitsburg, whom she married in 1904.  They divorced, and she married Calvin Malone in 1923.  The 1935 and 1940 U S. Census listed Calvin Malone as a musical director employed by the Waitsburg School District, living on Main Street in Waitsburg.

1/27/1947, Quit Claim Deed, Calvin S. Malone, grantor; Sarah Neace Malone, grantee as her separate property, Lots 3 & 4, Block B, $1.  Sarah Malone was Calvin’s second wife; his first wife having died in 1918.  Calvin died in 1959 and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Walla Walla, while Sarah, who died in 1960, is interred in the Waitsburg City Cemetery.

8/4/1977, Statutory Warranty Deed, Naomi Pauline Patton, as her separate estate, grantor; Terry M. and Nancee C. Jacoy, grantees, Lots 3 & 4, Block B, $52,000.  A precise relationship between Naomi Patton and Sarah Malone could not be determined, but earlier Sarah Malone was married to Seymour F. Patton of Waitsburg.  Thus it may be deduced that Naomi Patton was related through marriage to Sarah Malone.  See narrative accompanying deed of 4/20/1931.

3/14/1996, Quit Claim Deed, Nancee C. Hinchcliffe, formerly Nancee Jacoy, grantor; Terry M. Jacoy, grantee, Lots 3 & 4, Block B.

7/28/2023, Bargain & Sale Deed, Ryan Jacoy, personal representative of the estate of Terry M. Jacoy, deceased, grantor; John and Nichole Whitchurch, grantees, Lots 3 & 4, Block B, for $10 and other good and valuable consideration.

Construction of Building

The County Assessor’s office lists the build date for 317 Main Street as 1930.  While their dates are frequently estimates based on the building’s appearance, 1930 is likely the correct date of construction.  City of Walla Walla building permits are preserved as far back as mid-September 1907.  Regrettably, that resource does not exist for Waitsburg buildings.  On 6/1/1929, Lots 1 through 4 were quitclaimed to Charles Neace by his siblings and their wives.  Less than two years later, on 4/20/1931, Charles and Eva Neace sold Lots 3 and 4. The recorded price of the sale was $1 and a thorough search of records in the County Assessor’s vaults did not turn up any information containing the actual sale price.  However, all Assessor documents going back to 1935 list the build date for the house as 1930.  It is surmised that Charles and Eva Neace built it in 1930, perhaps on speculation.  Waitsburg did not publish city directories.  Older Walla Walla city directories for some years included Waitsburg, and while the street on which a party resided might be mentioned the house number was not.  More often the only included information is what occupation the male head of the house followed.  Thus, city directories were useless in trying to determine the first year of occupancy of 317 Main Street.  Possibly Calvin and Sarah Malone were the first occupants of 317 Main Street.  They were listed as residing on Main Street in the 1935 and 1940 U. S. Census reports.

317 Main Street is a one and one-half story brick veneer Tudor house with a fairly steeply-pitched side gable roof whose pitch diminishes on the lower right side where it protrudes over the front porch.  At the left of the street façade a secondary front gable protrudes slightly to enclose an entry and possibly a coat closet.  A similar shallow projection may be seen on the left side of the house. Tthe pitch of its roof near the base is less extreme, mirroring the right side of the main gable.  Original windows are multi-pane with lead grilles; some are rectangular, others have round or segmented arches.  This is an attractive, well-maintained house and a contributing member to Waitsburg’s historic Main Street.

Resources

• TitleOne Escrow and Title, formerly Pioneer TitleOne
• Walla Walla County Auditor online deed search
• Cindy Fazio, Cadastral GIS Technician, Walla Walla County Assessor’s Office
• U.S. Census records online
• Lyman, Prof. William Dennison, Lyman’s History of Old Walla Walla County Embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin Counties, Vol. 2, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1918
• Torres, Sandra, The Waitsburg Family 1858 – 1900, Arthur House publishers, LLC, 2014
• Orchard, Vance, Waitsburg: One of a Kind, Waitsburg Historical Society, 1976
• Walla Walla Public Library
• Northwest and Whitman Archives