History of 534 Catherine Street, Walla Walla, WA

Legal Description

Roberts’ Tax 3 Lot 1 Block 37 (M)

Full Legal Description

Beginning at the Southeasterly corner of Lot 1 in Block M [now known as Block 17] of Roberts’ Addition to the City of Walla Walla, as per the plat thereof recorded in Volume A of Plats at Page 21, records of Walla Walla County, and running thence Southwesterly along the Southerly line of said Lot 1, a distance of 125 feet; thence Northwesterly, parallel to the Easterly line of said Lot 1 a distance of 75 feet; thence Northeasterly parallel to the Southerly line of said Lot 1, a distance of 125 feet to a point in the Easterly line of said Lot 1; thence Southeasterly along the Easterly line of said Lot 1, a distance of 75 feet to the point of beginning; situated in the City and County of Walla Walla, State of Washington.

Title and Occupant History

Washington Territory was created in 1853. In 1854, the new territorial legislature created Walla Walla County, which stretched from the crest of the Cascade Mountains to the crest of the Rocky Mountains in the present states of Washington, Idaho and Montana. In 1855, Isaac Stevens, governor of Washington Territory, held a council on the banks of Mill Creek at the present site of Walla Walla with representatives of regional Indian tribes to purchase land from them. The Yakamas, Cayuses and Walla Wallas were dissatisfied with the treaties and the intrusion by whites into their lands before the treaties’ ratification, and war followed. Missionaries, former French-Canadian employees of the Hudson Bay Company trading post at Wallula, and soldiers at the military Fort Walla Walla were the primary European occupants of the area prior to 1859, when the treaties were finally ratified and the land was opened for settlement. The transfer of ownership occurred by virtue of a treaty signed on June 9, 1855 in Walla Walla and ratified on March 8, 1859 by President James Buchanan, in which all of the land in the Walla Walla area was acquired from the Cayuse and Walla Walla Indian tribes.

The town of Walla Walla was originally laid out by County Surveyor Hamet Hubbard Case in 1859, prior to its formal incorporation as a city in 1862, as a one-quarter mile square with its eastern side centered on the point where Main Street crossed Mill Creek (at roughly the point where it does now). The original plat was lost, probably in the fire of 1865. Thus, the earliest plat on file is one made by W. W. Johnson, City Surveyor, in July 1865 that claims to have made corrections to Case’s survey. Johnson’s survey was made the official plat of the City of Walla Walla on September 25, 1866, was filed and recorded July 5, 1867.

A. B. (Alvin Brown) Roberts was born May 17, 1832 in Knox Township, Jefferson County, Ohio. He arrived in Oregon Territory in 1853 and settled in Portland where he established the stone cutting firm of Roberts and Hartle. He served in Company A, Multnomah County, First Regiment from October 13 to December 19, 1855 in what was known as the Yakima War. He fought in what became known as the Battle of Walla Walla from December 7-11, 1855.

After his military service, Roberts went back to marble-cutting in Boise City, Idaho. On September 15, 1858 Roberts married Martha Elizabeth Baxter in Clackamas County, Oregon. (They divorced in 1866.)

A. B. and Martha Roberts left Portland, Oregon in 1859, traveling upriver to The Dalles, and eventually by land on to Wallula, W.T. From there they ventured on to the military Fort Walla Walla, at that time located along what is now East Main Street east of First, where Roberts determined to remain, purchasing property from Tom Hughes near the current northeast corner of South 1^st and Alder Street for $250, which amounted to about 160 acres. He constructed a house of canvas and poles about 150 feet south of that corner. He fenced in additional land around his rudimentary house and held it until the small town was surveyed. Roberts was one of 42 men selected to run for city office in 1862 in an effort to curb crime in Walla Walla; it appears he was neither elected nor appointed to office.

Roberts planted what is believed to be the first apple orchard in the valley other than those planted by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman at the Whitman Mission. Roberts sold some of his one-year-old trees for one dollar each and since that proved so profitable, went into the nursery business exclusively. He rose to much prominence in the fruit industry of the territory and state, much of which was centered in Walla Walla at that time. He was also the father of Masonry in Walla Walla and was first the master of Walla Walla Lodge No. 7.

Eventually A. B. and Martha Roberts extended their holdings, including acreage granted by the United States Government under the Homestead Act that ranged from approximately First Street on the west to approximately Howard Street on the east, and from approximately L Street on the south to Alder Street to the north. Platted in 1870, the land was recorded January 20, 1871 as Roberts’ Addition to the City of Walla Walla.

11/3/1879, Warranty Deed, Franklin Goodwin, grantor; Ida E. Andrews, grantee, Lots 1 and 2, Block M, Roberts’ Addition, $250. The 1880 city directory listed Goodwin as a farmer. Dr. Ida Andrews had a practice on Third between Main and Alder Streets. Her husband, Dr. J. C. Andrews was a physician and surgeon at the same office with residence at the same address.

5/12/1880, Warranty Deed, Ida E. and J. C. Andrews, grantors; William Vawter, Lots 1 and 2, Block M, Roberts’ Addition, $1. William Vawter was the Walla Walla postmaster, residing on Chase Avenue.

5/25/1881, Warranty Deed, William and Rachel Vawter, grantors; B. L. Baker, grantee, Lots 1 and 2, Block M, Roberts’ Addition, $500. B. L. Baker in 1881 was a teller at the Baker & Boyer Bank, rooming at 10 North 2^nd.

11/9/1881, Deed, B. L. Baker, a single man, grantor; Thomas R. Tannatt, Lots 1 and 2, Block M, Roberts’ Addition, $500. Thomas R. Tannatt was born in Hudson, NY in 1833. He was a Brevet General in the Army during the Civil War, following which he associated with Henry Villard, moving to Walla Walla in the late 1870s where he was placed in charge of blocking the extension of the Northern Pacific Railroad to the Pacific Coast. The NP had already reached Kalama, Washington before December 1874, and service on the final stretch from Kalama to Tacoma began January 5, 1875. He was general land agent for development with the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, and served two terms as mayor of Walla Walla in the 1880s. In 1881 shortly before buying Lots 1 and 2, Tannatt went to Dayton where he offered to build a flume from the mountains to make Dayton a shipping point for lumber. He arranged to purchase the Dayton & Touchet Flume Company property, and soon had a flume running down the Touchet River from the mountains. Tannatt also ran unsuccessfully for governor of Washington Territory in 1885. He retired around 1887, relocating to Farmington, WA where he became an orchardist and later operated a hardware store in Palouse, Washington. He served on the Board of Regents for Washington Agricultural College (since 1959 Washington State University) from 1893 to 1901. He died in 1903. In the 1881-82 city directory Tannatt was listed as “bds 116 Third st.” The 1883 city directory listed Tannatt’s home address as “Catherine st south of Whitman,” that could describe what is currently 534 Catherine Street.

1/24/1882, Quit Claim Deed, Sigmund and Rose Schwabacher, grantors; T. R. Tannatt, grantee, numerous pieces of land in Roberts’ Addition, $250. Sigmund Schwabacher was one of three Schwabacher brothers who operated a large hardware business in Seattle. The brothers opened a hardware store in Walla Walla on the northeast corner of Main and Third that Sigmund managed.

5/26/1888, Warranty Deed, Thomas R. and Elizabeth F. Tannatt, grantors; Frank J. Parker, grantee, Lots 1 and 2, Block M., Roberts’ Addition, $3,500. Frank J. Parker was born in Somersetshire, England in 1843. He immigrated to New York as an adolescent, eventually moving on to California where he served with the California volunteers during the Apache campaign. He later moved to eastern Washington, where he became a scout and dispatch bearer for Gen. Oliver Otis Howard who led the campaign in 1877 against Chief Joseph. Following the Nez Perce war, Lt. Col. Parker settled in Walla Walla where he served as editor of the Walla Walla Statesman, eastern Washington’s oldest newspaper, from 1879 until he retired in 1900. Parker died in California in 1928. The 1889 city directory listed him as “res Catherine below Whitman” that should confirm 534 Catherine Street, particularly since it is known that Col. Parker lived in the house.

4/24/1894, Indenture, Frank J. Parker, grantor; Martha J. Parker, grantee, Lots 1 and 2, Block M, Roberts’ Addition, $1. The Parkers were listed through 1904 as “res 534 Catherine.”

10/6/1904, Warranty Deed, Frank J. and Martha J. Parker, grantors; Flora A. Dice, grantee, Lots 1 and 2, Block M, Roberts’ Addition $2,500. Flora Dice was the wife of Amos K. Dice, who was a partner in Dice & Jackson and Kirkman, Dice & Jackson, notary public. He also served as treasurer of the Walla Walla Lumber Company, and treasurer of the IOOF Cemetery Committee. Mr. and Mrs. Dice were listed in city directories as residing at 524 Catherine Street, directly north of 534 and currently a vacation rental. City directories include names of numerous persons who resided at 534 Catherine Street during the years that the Dices owned the house; it appears that they used 534 as rental property. Historian Susan Monahan compiled a list of 15 different persons who occupied 534 Catherine as renters during the Dices’ ownership.

11/2/1922, Warranty Deed, A. K. and Flora A. Dice, grantors; Walter P. Brooke, grantee, $25 and grantee to pay all taxes and assessments subsequent to 1/1/1917. Walter P. Brooke is not listed in the 1922 city directory as a resident of the city or county of Walla Walla.

11/2/1922, Warranty Deed, Walter and Jennie C. Brooke, grantors; James B. Farrens, grantee, same as above warranty deed, $10. In both the 1923-24 and 1925-26 city directories Mr. Farrens was listed as a farmer with residence at 306 Chase Avenue. Since the Farrens’ ownership of 534 Catherine was so brief, and since reverse addresses in city directories where one could look up by street and address who lived at a specific location did not begin until 1930 the status of 534 Catherine during this brief period is not known.

1/8/1924, Statutory Warranty Deed, James B. and Jennie M. Farrens, grantors; Clarence L. Ramp, grantee, same as 1922 warranty deed, $10 with the understanding on the part of the grantee that Inter-State Building, Loan & Trust Company held a mortgage of $1,800 on the property. Clarence Ramp was a teller at Baker- Boyer Bank. The 1925-26 city directory listed him with “h 534 Catherine.” His last listing at that address was in the 1941 directory.

From 1942 through 1945 no city directories were published. Thus no information could be found pertaining to the next owners, Warren and Ann Bradshaw, who acquired the property early in 1942 until mid-1943.

2/16/1942, Warranty Deed, Clarence L. Ramp, a widower, grantor; Ann and Warren Bradshaw, grantees, same as above statutory warranty deed, but without any mention of the mortgage, $10 and other valuable consideration.

5/14/1943, Quit Claim Deed, Warren Bradshaw, grantor; Ann Bradshaw, grantee, same as above statutory warranty deed as her sole and separate property, no mention of the mortgage, $1.

5/14/1943, Warranty Deed, Ann Bradshaw in her separate right, grantor; Abbie Hansen, a widow, grantee, same as above statutory warranty deed, $10 and other valuable consideration. Mrs. Hansen was listed in the 1946 city directory as “h 534 Catherine.”

9/20/1951, Warranty Deed, Abbie B. Hansen, a widow, grantor; Florence E. Brunton, a widow, grantee, $10 and other valuable consideration. Mrs. Brunton did not reside at 534 Catherine Street. Her city directory address was 105 Shady Rill, Apt. 12.

9/20/1951, Warranty Deed, Florence E. Brunton, a widow, grantor; Halvor and Lena Halvorson, grantees, $10. Halvor Halvoson was a carpenter who was listed at “h 534 Catherine av [sic].”

11/5/1953, Warranty Deed, Halvor and Lena Halvorson, grantors; John J. and Rose Pudwill, grantees, $1 and other valuable consideration. John Pudwill was a watchman at Whitman College. The 1954-55 city directory listed him as “h 534 Catherine av [sic].”

7/12/1961, Statutory Warranty Deed, Rose Pudwill, in her separate capacity, grantor; James R. and Barbara Rae Hoyt, grantees, $10. Mr. Hoyt was listed in the 1962 city directory as a custodian at the State Department of Public Assistance, “h 534 Catherine av [sic].”

8/30/1972, State of Washington Department of Revenue Inheritance Tax Division, Release of Inheritance Tax Lien, in the matter of probate of the estate of James R. Hoyt, deceased 11/1/1971, “In accordance with the affidavit filed…we find that the property not probated in the above estate…is not subject to inheritance taxes,” including Lots 1 and 2, Block 17 (formerly Block M) of Roberts’ Addition and numerous other items including joint savings and checking accounts, life insurance policies on the deceased and widow, a 1965 Dodge truck, a 17-foot trailer, furniture, etc.

7/12/1973, Statutory Warranty Deed, Wilma L. Hoyt, a widow, grantor; Jerry R. and Peggy J. Evans, grantees, $10. Mr. Evans was a mechanic at Teague Motors; Mrs. Evans was a cake decorator at the Rose Street Safeway. The 1974 directory listed their address as “534 Catherine.”

7/29/1974, Statutory Warranty Deed, Jerry R. and Peggy J. Evans, grantors; Brian P. and Mary A. Hildahl, $10 and other valuable consideration. Brian Hildahl is listed in the 1975 city directory as a counselor with Mental Health Services; Mary Hildahl was a home economist with Walla Walla County Extension. Their residence was listed as “534 Catherine.”

4/25/1975, Statutory Warranty Deed, Brian P. and Mary A. Hildahl, grantors; Leonard L. and Marilyn K. Myers, grantees, $10 and other valuable consideration. The 1976 city directory listed Mr. Myers as a pharmacy technician with the Veterans Administration Hospital, residing at “534 Catherine.”

9/16/1979, Statutory Warranty Deed, Leonard L. and Marilyn K. Myers, grantors; David E. and Jeannette E. Beres, $10 and other valuable consideration. David Beres was listed in the 1980 city directory as manager of American States Insurance; Jeannie Beres was a data clerk at St. Mary’s. The Bereses resided at “534 Catherine.”

6/9/1986, Statutory Warranty Deed, David E. and Jeannette E. Beres, to terminate a Deed of Trust and release grantors from debt.

6/9/1986, Warranty Bill of Sale in Lieu of Foreclosure, David E. and Jeannette E. Beres, grantors; Secretary of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D. C., grantee, to release debtor from personal liability for all debts and obligations in the Deed of Trust for 534 Catherine Street.

4/17/1987, Deed for State of Washington, Secretary of Department of Housing and Urban Development, grantor; Eugene J. and Dixie J. Medutis, grantees, $10 and other valuable consideration. Eugene Medutis worked at the Washington State Penitentiary. The 1988 city directory included “534 [Catherine] unlisted.” It appears that Mr. and Mrs. Medutis divorced, as she was using a different surname when the house was sold in 1998.

1/7/1998, Statutory Warranty Deed, Dixie Baird, a single person, grantor; Karen J. Christy, a single person. She resided at 534 Catherine Street.

11/30/2020, Quit Claim Deed, Kathryn Austin who acquired the title as Karen J. Christy, grantor; Kathryn and Michael Austin, grantees. The Austins continue to occupy 534 Catherine Street.

Construction of Building

T. R. Tannatt acquired Lots 1 and 2 of what was then listed as Block M (now Block 37) of Roberts’ Addition in 1881. Sanborn Fire Insurance maps do not include Catherine Street until the 1894 edition. The west side of Catherine Street appears on Page 3 of the 1894 map and it does not show Whitman Street continuing west beyond Catherine Street. This appears to be an error, in that an 1884 birds eye view of that section of Walla Walla clearly shows Whitman Street extending west of Catherine. The east side of Catherine Street in this area appears on Page 11 of the 1894 Sanborn map and clearly depicts Whitman Street’s west termination at Catherine Street.

City of Walla Walla building permits are preserved as far back as mid-September 1907. Certainly 534 Catherine Street predates 1907 considerably. T. R. Tannatt purchased Lots 1 and 2 of what then was called Block M of Roberts’ Addition in November 1881. The Tannatts were listed in the 1883 city directory as residing on Catherine Street south of Whitman Street. It is therefore plausible that the house was constructed by Thomas and Elizabeth Tannatt in 1882. Tannatt paid $500 for Lots 1 and 2 of Block M in November 1881. He and Mrs. Tannatt sold the two lots in May 1888 for $3,500. For a span of seven and one-half years between purchase and sale, the increase of the price by $3,000 may not seem like very much, but the house at 534 Catherine Street is fairly modest and could have cost ca. $3,000 to build.

534 Catherine Street is a one and one-half story L-shaped house with a moderately steep cross-gable roof. Exterior wall cladding is clapboards with some corners displaying vertical strips of wood. This places the house within the Victorian Stick Style of architecture (the term Stick Style does not refer to construction technique; the referenced decorative vertical strips were referred to as “sticks”).

The front gable is the focal point of the house with its attractive three-sided bay window displaying segmented arch windows that doubtless were originally double-hung. A sizable porch is attached to the left portion of the street façade, above which is a tall window under its own small gabled roof. Windows at the second level of the projecting main gable are double-hung. A single segmented arch window is to the left of the front door under the porch roof. This is a simple, pleasant and historically important house to the City of Walla Walla.

Resources

• TitleOne Title and Escrow (formerly Pioneer Title) Whitman College Archives
• Walla Walla Public Library
• Gilbert, Frank T., Historic Sketches of Walla Walla, Whitman, Columbia & Garfield Co’s. W. T., also Umatilla Co. OR., A. G. Walling Printing and Lithographing, Portland, 1882
• City Directories, various years Mountain View Cemetery records
• Tannatt Family Papers, 1813-1919, Washington State University (online summary) Historylink.org
• Monahan, Susan, Walla Walla historian, who completed considerable research on 534 Catherine Street for her neighbors, the current owners
• Monahan, Susan, Walla Walla: Past & Present, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2022 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company maps, various years