History of 601 Juniper Street, Walla Walla, WA
Property Description:
Parcel 360728530426, at 601 Juniper Street, Bryant’s Addition, Lot 24, Block 4, as recorded in the office of the Walla Walla County Assessor.
Title History:
Washington Territory was created in 1853. The new legislature created Walla Walla County in 1854 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 a treaty council was held on the banks of Mill Creek at the present site of Walla Walla to purchase land from the Indians. The Yakimas, Cayuses and Walla Wallas were dissatisfied with the treaties 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 it was opened for settlement. All of the land in this area was acquired from the Cayuse and Walla Walla Indian tribes by the U.S. Government in a treaty signed on June 9, 1855 in Walla Walla, and ratified on March 8, 1859 by President James Buchanan.
Walla Walla was originally laid out by County Surveyor H. H. Case in 1859, before 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 City of Walla Walla received a Trustee Townsite from the U. S. Government which consisted of 80 acres issued on July 20, 1869 by the Vancouver, W.T. District Land Office. Main Street originally followed the old Nez Perce Indian Trail. Consequently the streets leading off of it were at right angles to it, and were not in a north-south orientation. This was corrected as the city moved eastward which gave Walla Walla its peculiar street pattern with the three street intersection at Palouse, Boyer and Main Streets. To the original plat, additional parcels were annexed from time to time, usually bearing the name of the land owner of record at the time the additions were made.
The first entry in the local land records was when this area of town was platted as Bryant’s Addition. On September 22, 1883 Viretta Bryant signed a Quit claim Deed giving her husband John Bryant title to her interest in this property and much more. On April 9, 1887 Bryant sold lots 23 and 24 to Charles Rose for $200. On May 16, 1899, Anna Rose, Charles’s widow, sold these two lots to Charles E. Metzger for $75. On October 30, 1902 Metzger, a widower, sold this property to Allen H. Reynolds for $1800. Ten days later Reynolds sold to Edward T. Bowers and his wife Catherine for the same price. On July 11, 1910 Bowers sold to J. C. and Wilhelmina B. Davis and Charles B. and Laura Davis for $4000. One month later the Davis families sold to Patterson F. and Minnie Gertrude Waldrop for $4000. On January 28, 1911 Waldrops sold to John and Lizzie Greidwohl for the same price. On February 19, 1915 Greidwohls sold to Nicklaus and Emilie Wierk for the same price. One week later Wierks sold to Ben and Mabel G. Teal for $3000. One month later Teals sold to Sylvester F. Clark for “$10” including a $700 mortgage to George A. Evans. On June 21, 1920 Clark gave a deed to his wife Mary C. Clark for “love and affection.” On October 10, 1921, Mary Clark, widow, sold to Edna Shearer for $2650. On February 22,1922 Edna Shearer, a spinster, sold to Rose Stuible, a widow, for $10. On July 11, 1928 A. C. Ripley and Rose Ripley (formerly Rose Stuible) sold to Orell B. Davis, whose husband was J. B. Davis. On June 11, 1947 Davis sold to Charles F. and Golda A. Hall for $10. On March 30, 1964 the Halls sold to Arthur E. and Della L. Meyer subject to a $3000 mortgage. On May 26, 2000 Arthur E. Meyer, Sr. gave these two lots to Cheryl Shell for love and affection. Cheryl Shell separated lot 25 from lot 24. On April 12, 2011 Gregory Lutcher, trustee, transferred this property to Baker Boyer Bank for $130,239. On December 29, 2011 the Bank sold Lot 24 with its house to Laura Rau Munns for $75,000.
Occupant History:
Charles E. Metzger, a carpenter, built and lived in this house from 1900 to 1902. Bowers appear to have lived here from 1902 to 1909. Bowers was listed in the 1904 city directory as a farmer. Geneva M. Bowers, student, also lived her in 1905. In 1907 Bowers was listed as president of Walla Walla Brick and Stone Co. Patterson F. Waldrop, a laborer, lived here in 1910. John and Elizabeth Gridwohl/Greidwohl lived here from 1911-1913. He was a teamster. In 1914 Pauline Gridwohl lived here. Owners Wierk, Teal and Clark never lived here. The next residents to be located here were A. Clayton and Rose Ripley in 1923. He was a mechanic. By 1924 they had moved to Abbott Road. Orell and James Davis owned this house from 1928 to 1947 but lived at 1633 University. There is no reverse city directory until 1931 so names of renters are unknown. After 1931 renters included Rev. August and Pauline Graebener, Chester and Alma Appling, Felix and Mary Brown, Flora Brown and Cyrus W. Zwanzig. After Charles and Goldie Hall purchased the property in 1947 they lived here until 1964. He was a butcher at Walla Walla Meat and Cold Storage Co. Arthur and Della Meyer lived here through 1999. He worked for the Walla Walla City Sanitary Department and she worked at the VA Hospital. Cheryl Shell was first listed at this address in 1999. She was employed at Complete Fertilizer and Chemicals. Laura Rau Munns lives at 1326 Home Street. There are no city directories to determine renters at this time.
Construction of the Building:
The Walla Walla County Tax Assessor lists the construction date for this house as 1900. Since Charles Metzger bought this property in 1899 for $75 and sold it in 1902 for $1800 it is reasonable to assume that Metzger built this house in 1900 when he was first listed in the city directory. The house appears on the 1905 Sanborn fire map. No building permits exist for this period.
References:
Building Permits: Whitman College Penrose Library Archives.
Sanborn Fire Maps: 1884-1905 (with updates until 1950).
Walla Walla City Directories: 1880-2000 (various publishers–not all years).
Whitman College Archives.
Mary E. Meeker ; Walla Walla 2020 Research Service PO Box 1222, Walla Walla WA 99362 April, 2012
