These walls can talk

The F.B. Datel building has stood at 7th and Main in North Bend since the early 1900s. Nettie Mines, a clerk in the Datel store for 35 years, wrote this entry about the winter weather in 1936.

Datel building has its own record of local history

by Mary Le Arneal
posted 10/21/09

The saying goes “If only old buildings could talk” seems to have come true with a message from the past from the F.B. Datel building in downtown North Bend.

Under the steps that open to Main Street are messages written by previous occupants dating back to the 1920s. Some of the entries are just names. Often a marriage date will be after a name, possibly signalling the resignation of the woman since few married women worked outside the home.

Mary Wilcox added to the force Mar - 1- 22
Cora M. Lehmer 3-30-20 Married 3-23-22
Wesley J. Guthals born 11 -13 - 35
Thomas Laughton 9-4-37
Emil R. Bloch married Ap 22, 1926 Denver, Colo
Wilda Pabian married Aug 17 1927 Honeymoon trip to Denver, Colo

Nettie Mines made many of the entries. She was a clerk at the Datel store for 35 years, but it wasn’t a smooth career.

Nettie Mines 10-15-18
Nettie resigned 4-4-25
Nettie started 8/1/26 10/17/32
Nettie resigned again 8-1-29
Messages were of local interest to farmers:
March 12, 1939 Corn 35¢
July 21, 1936, 116 in shade. Drought broken. May, June 1936 fine weather plenty of rain. Corn $1.13 Wheat $1.26

There were additional messages about the weather.

1936 Blizzard and 34 days below zero. 8 to 26 below Jan 12 to Feb 18
Snow banks as high as car tops on grade- Nettie Mines March 3, 1936
1939 July Very dry. No rain since spring.

Seems like car activity was a very important marker in time as recorded on the steps.

Put on my new aeratovilss (I’m not sure about this spelling, but it must have been something significant as it kept happening with listed dates) 11-22-22, 8-23-24, 8-2-26, 5-6-28, 8-17-29
Nettie bought new $6 tires Feb. 1929
Put in new Exide Battery 10-7-24 $15.00
New tires Firestone March 24, 1928
New batteries 10-17-28 Earl Gorham

There was one entry on the national scene, but the date listed is in the month following the actual event. Maybe this is just when news reached North Bend.

Hitler takes Czech Nov. 11, 1939
Some notes told of the history of the building.
Gamble Store opened March 23-45
Good Bye Old Store

The Datel Building was built around 1915 using bricks from the Mines Brickyard of North Bend. Until 1940 it served as the Datel General Merchandise Store. Then it was a drug store for a number of years with apartments and a dentist office upstairs. In 1992 Jerry and Cecilia Hall purchased the building with no particular plan in mind.

“It was an interesting old building,” Jerry Hall said. “It was in disrepair and needed work. I needed a place for my shop and storage.

In 1995 Hall did extensive remodeling to the south half of the building and Gambino’s Pizza moved in. The north half has been used as a dance studio, martial arts classroom, fireworks stand and other things through the years. Hall recently completed remodeling the east area upstairs for daughter Rebecca’s fitness studio and son Greg’s business office. The north side is now open for commercial rental.

“I won’t let the ‘Queen Mary sink,” Hall said in reference to an old ship that has found a second life as a hotel. “I’ll continue working at it.”

Hall said in his remodeling of the builidng he has found no other “messages” from the building. So a part of North Bend history contiunes to stand silently over downtown downtown North Bend, leaving us to wornder what else she could tell us.

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