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Building History

Frank Dekum (1829-1894), a Bavarian immigrant whose family settled first in Illinois, arrived in the small town of Portland, OR, in 1853. With his business partner Fred Bickel, Dekum founded a thriving confectionery business and also a restaurant and wholesale/retail fruit company. By the 1870s, he sold out to Bickel, and turned his attention to real estate development and, later, banking. His first effort, completed in 1871, the Dekum Building #1, stood on the northwest corner of Front and Washington Streets. In all, Dekum built four large commercial buildings between 1871 and 1892.

This second venture, done in collaboration with Simeon G. Reed, was another large commercial block in Portland's central business district. According to noted architect George A. McMath (1931-2007), writing the National Register of Histroic Places nomination form for the Dekum Building #2 (1892), " ...With Simeon G. Reed, Dekum built another major structure known as Dekum and Reed's Block on the west side of Front Street between Ankeny and Burnside. When completed in 1875, the three story structure was the largest commercial building in Portland." (See George A. McMath, Allen McMath Hawkins, Architects, "The Dekum," National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, published 03/20/1980, accessed 02/19/2019.) This excerpt indicated that the Dekum and Reed Block was three stories tall, but an image from the University of Oregon Libraries Buildings of Oregon Collection illustrated it to have had four.

In 1980, the Skidmore Development Company owned the Dekum Building #2.

PCAD id: 22272