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Overview

In 2018, the Hallock-McMillan Building was the oldest load-bearing brick commercial building standing in Portland, erected in 1857. It was a contributing property to the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District.

Building History

The design of the Hallock-McMillan Building was made by the early Portland architect Absalom B. Hallock (1827-1892).

Alteration

In 2015, owner of the Hallock and McMillan Building John Russell, began its renovation. An article in the Portland Oregonian noted how authentic its restoration would be: "It’s also the city’s oldest example of cast-iron architecture, which was popular in downtown Portland’s early days. Its cast-iron framing was removed sometime in the 1940s in an effort to “modernize” it. Now, after several years of trying, a local developer says he’s ready to restore the building to its past glory, complete with authentic new ironwork. John Russell says the restoration effort will begin soon, and he’s hoping that a new tenant will occupy it by February. 'It will look absolutely identical' to the way it looked originally, he said. 'The cast-iron pieces have already been cast, which is quite a process.' He said he could have used reproductions of the old cast-iron framework made of glass fiber or cast concrete 'but neither is as durable as cast iron.' The cast-iron work was done by Silverton Foundry in Silverton, and Russell said the process it uses is identical to that used to cast the original ironwork in San Francisco. 'You make wood patterns, put them in sand, take them out and in the space vacated, you pour molten iron and you have the piece,' he said. (See John Killen, "Building once made ‘new’ will soon be made old again," Portland Oregonian, 05/15/2015, p. C1.)