Editor’s note: Over a period of 12 years beginning in 1983, local historian Ken Munford wrote 561 columns for the Gazette-Times. As part of the city’s 150th anniversary, the newspaper will publish a selection of these columns each Saturday. This one was originally printed on March 11, 1991.

An event on July 4, 1904, brought about irreversible changes in the commercial and social life of Benton County.

That is the date usually given for the return of a hometown boy bringing the first horseless carriage seen in these parts. The natives gawked at his shiny new two-cylinder REO touring car. It had neither top nor windshield, but did have real leather upholstery, smooth to the touch.

Mark A. Rickard, son of Peter and Clarienda Rickard, had been born in Benton County on July 2, 1884. He and his four sisters had attended local schools. Mark attended Oregon Agricultural College for one year, 1901 to ’02.

Seeking his fortune, young Mark went to California, where he worked on a gold dredge at Oroville. At 18 he made motor vehicle history by riding a Mitchell motorcycle over the Siskiyou Mountains between California and Oregon. Two years later he brought his $1,450 REO home to Corvallis.

Ransom E. Olds and Henry Ford had both tried to invent a self-propelled vehicle. Olds put his “merry Oldsmobile” on the market first, in 1899. Ford’s tin lizzie came on line in 1903. Following a disagreement with his stockholders, Olds withdrew and began producing the auto named for his initials: REO.

Mark Rickard became the local agent for REOs in 1905. He later took on other dealerships, advertising Pope, Peerless, Chalmers, E.M.F. Flanders and Buick automobiles.

In 1908 he bought the corner lot on Van Buren Avenue at 235 N. Second St. and built a showroom, repair shop and storage garage. In its 1910 Tour Book, the Portland Automobile Club (AAA) referred to Rickard’s Garage as its Corvallis headquarters.

On Thursday afternoon, Sept. 6, 1923, a Studebaker leaking gasoline drove into the garage. Onus Brown, a mechanic, was bringing a can to catch the drip when a spark from the machine or some other source ignited the fuel on the floor. He grabbed a fire extinguisher, but a tank of compressed air nearby exploded, spreading flames throughout the building. Brown received burns on his hands and arms; other employees escaped.

Fire Chief Thomas Graham arrived with his equipment three minutes after the 4:35 alarm and began pouring water in the front door. A pumper on the river bank sprayed two houses on First Street but could not save them. It did keep the flames from spreading south along the riverfront to the planing mill and flour warehouse. Poles carrying power lines from Albany caught fire, leaving the city in darkness throughout the night.

The roof of the Beaver Laundry next door caught fire. Firemen could not save it but did save a strong ceiling below. Laundry workers stayed on duty, carrying clothes, records and movable equipment out to safety. The floor of the laundry and the adjoining apartments received only water damage.

Fire and falling beams destroyed all but four of the 35 automobiles being worked on or in storage. One observer said gas tanks and fires popped like firecrackers. Owners of 26 of the cars were identified next day by license plates. About half of them belonged to Corvallis residents. Others belonged to owners from all over western Oregon, from Portland to Wolf Creek.

Quick thinking by the wife of Lt. Maylon Scott, an ROTC instructor at Oregon Agricultural College, saved her car. She had just driven in to have a flat tire repaired when the explosion occurred. She stepped on the gas and drove on out the back door.

Exhausted by heat and smoke, Fire Chief Graham had to leave the fire for a while. His wife’s Studebaker sedan was one of the vehicles destroyed.

Firefighters later thanked the Red Cross and Corvallis women for refreshing them with drinking water, coffee and sandwiches during the fire.

Clips in time

Editor’s note: Morris and Lynn Walker are working to make “150 Years in the Heart of the Valley,” a documentary film about Corvallis’ first 150 years. Each Saturday, they share tidbits from Corvallis that they’ve uncovered during their work. You can contact the Walkers at heartofthevalley@yahoo.com or by calling 609-0107.

Dreams materialized for the founding fathers of Corvallis when they discovered the confluence of the Marys and Willamette rivers in 1845. J.C. Avery built a cabin on the north side of the of Marys River and envisioned 12 acres of his land as town lots. His friend William F. Dixon followed suit, marking off a similar number of lots just north of Avery’s land claim.

Dixon and Avery soon started ferry businesses to transport people and goods back and forth across the rivers. They were visionary men and knew that the river was going to be the artery of commerce for the town they originally called Marysville. Avery renamed the town Corvallis, Latin for “heart of the valley,” in 1853.

In January 1857, Corvallis was incorporated.

The first riverboat on the Willamette was called the Beaver. The Beaver never made it to Corvallis, but dozens of other sternwheelers and paddle boats did and Corvallis became a regional trading center.

The steamboats would bring goods for ambitious miners going south in search of gold. They also shipped flour and grain to markets as far away as England and China.

At that time, First Street was lined with warehouses and industrial buildings where sternwheelers could tie up at the wharves.