06/01/2026
REPUBLICAN POLE-RAISING RALLY - Oregon, 1880s
This remarkable, 140-year-old photo of Oregon was another "mystery photo" until Museum vice-president Bill McGuire identified the scene.
We believe this rare image was shot from P.M. Zook's second-floor photo studio in a Washington Street building just north of the Zook & Roecker Bank. His camera was pointed southeast across the intersection of Washington and Nodaway Streets.
There's a lot to unpack in this photo, so we will zoom in on different parts of the scene and discuss each in a series of upcoming posts.
First of all, not one, but two Holt County courthouses can be seen in the photo. The clock tower of the familiar 1881 structure, the county's third* courthouse (and relatively new at the time), looms among the trees in the background.
A glimpse of the first courthouse, a sturdy oak and walnut structure built in 1842 by pioneer Jesse Carroll,** also is seen on the far left. Its days were numbered -- it would be demolished and today's King & Proud building would be built in its place in 1890. At the time of this photo, the first courthouse building had been repurposed as William Sterrett's general store.
A crowd has gathered around a tall, temporary pole, upon which the Stars and Stripes would be raised as part of this 1880s*** local Republican party rally. Flag-raisings, popular political events at the time, were put on by both the Republican and Democratic parties, and occurred elsewhere in Holt County (such as New Point) in that era.
Stay tuned for more observations about this scene.
*We have a photo taken from, but not of, the second, 1850s courthouse. The only likeness we have of the building is an engraving printed in an 1877 plat book.
**Carroll also built the stone Holt County jail, which underneath many modifications and improvements over the years, is still standing.
***We believe only a presidential election would prompt a gathering this big. Those elections happened in 1884 and 1888.
