HISTORY
How the Riverside Community Hall began:
The first documented start of the Riverside Community Hall dates to a group of ladies who decided in 1908 that they needed a community center where people could meet. They formally organized in 1918 and began to look for a site. In 1920 Callamette Grange gave money for a building, when a site could be procured, with the understanding they could hold their meetings in the new Hall. In 1921 Mr. and Mrs. Gene Canning gave a portion of their dairy farmland to the “Riverside Community” for a meeting place. The original gift from the Cannings said the Hall was for all those who reside, or care about the well-being of the community, and support the Hall.
The incorporation and building of the Hall:
The original Articles of Incorporation say that the purpose, business, and pursuit of said corporation shall be as follows: To operate a community center and conduct charitable, educational, and religious activities there that contribute to the development of the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual life of the community. To provide a community space for other charitable, educational, literary, religious nonprofit organizations, other community groups, and community members to use for the above purposes and to work to restore, repair and preserve the Riverside Community Hall.” (Riverside Articles of Incorporation, 1921).
The Riverside Community is defined by Linn County as the area bound by the Willamette River, the Calapooia River, and Highway 34. There are approximately 1,200 houses in that 12.1 square miles today.
(Linn County Planning Department_2020 Riverside Census)
Once the Riverside Community Corporation was registered with the State, they were ready to build the Hall. The Riverside community raised $1,000 from the sale of donated aprons, livestock, geese, cooked food, and hayrack items. The Callamette Grange #543, donated $1,000 from their building fund, under the assumption that they could have their meetings there. (They met there for many years, and were very active in community activities, sharing educational opportunities and best farming practices.) Leslie Stellmacher and a team of horses dug out the basement for the Hall and volunteers worked under a qualified carpenter supervisor to build the hall at a significant cost savings. With a lot of community support and fund raising, it was completed in five months, and the mortgage was retired in May 1923. (Democrat Herald, November 23, 1960).
“The Hall was estimated to have cost $5,000.00 and was deemed the best Hall of its kind in the county. In December 1921, the Herald newspaper said the hall was “of modern design and well-built and is the first of its kind to be erected in Linn County.’” (Hasso Hering Blog). No research effort has revealed who designed the Hall. When the local elementary school needed a place to serve lunches the community stepped up and fed first through eighth grade students until 1970 when it was closed.
Today the Hall is managed by a Board comprised of local community volunteers who serve the needs of the community and work on preservation of the hall.