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Overview

The Flinn Block was erected in 1887 at 222 1st Avenue in Albany, OR. During the 1970s, the ground-floor levels of the Flinn Block and the neighboring Ames Building, erected in 1910, were linked to form a continuous commercial space.

Building History

L. Flinn, (1837-1904), who went by the first initial "L." during his adult life, came to the US as an Irish immigrant, perhaps at about the time of the Potato Famine. He lived on his parents' farm in Sudbury, VT, and attended Middlebury College as a young adult. from which he graduated in 1863. He then moved to Elizabethtown, NY, to study law in the office of Robert S. Hale. An obituary in The Bankers' Magazine in 1904, provided some subsequent biographical information on him: “Flinn—L. Flinn, President of the First National Bank, Albany, Ore., and ex-mayor of Albany, and formerly county judge, died March 11. He was born in Ireland in 1837 and came to this country while a boy. In 1864 he went to San Francisco and later went to Oregon, at first teaching school and afterwards practicing law. In 1888 he purchased an interest in the First National Bank of Albany, and became President.” (See “Bankers’ Obituary Record,” The Bankers’ Magazine, vol. LXVIII, no. 4, 04/1904, p. 572.) When he first settled in Albany, Flinn taught school for three years, before switching to the practice of law.

Flinn, who had been became a licensed attorney in Salem, OR, in 1865, formed a legal partnership with J.C. Powell, who had been admitted to bar in NY in 1860. Powell had been a County Judge and District Attorney. This partnership formed 1868 and was known as "Powell and Flinn." (See H. Charles Unman, Lawyers’ Record and Official Register of the United States, [New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, Publishers, 1872], p. 856.) Flinn worked in partnership with Powell for ten years, before leaving it to practice on his own for one year. He then formed another legal partnership with George E. Chamberlain, Sr., (1854-1928) in 1880. In 1880, as well, Flinn also became a Linn County Judge, serving for four years.

Flinn and Chamberlain continued until approximately 1886. In approximately 01/1887, the two men, (along with Albany businessman S.E. Young), purchased the 1st National Bank of Albany from John Conner. (See Flinn served as president and Chamberlain, the vice-president. The bank flourished under their leadership, weathering the unstable financial climate after the Depression of 1893. and renewing its charter as a national bank on 04/02/1903. Chamberlain would go on to become Attorney General for Oregon, (1891-1895), Governor or Oregon, (1903-1909), and, later, US Senator from OR, (1909-1921).

The date of construction for the building for the 1st National Bank of Albany has been said to have been in 1887, although at least one source listed it as being in 1889. A biography on Flinn, for example, indicated that the bank building was erected in 1889. It stated: “…In the meantime, it has known a remarkably successful era, having increased the capital stock from $50,000 to $80,000, and erected in 1889 the present building, with a frontage of sixty-six feet.” (SeePortrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, Part I, [Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1903], p. 650.)

The Bankers' Magazine (02/1887), indicated that Flinn and Chamberlain replaced John Conner as the leadership of the 1st National Bank. (See “Changes of President and Cashier,” The Bankers’ Magazine, 02/1887, vol. XLI, no. 8, p. 631.) Given this information, Flinn and Chamberlain could have had the building constructed in 1887 or 1889.

The building has a large cast-iron facade, fabricated in Portland, OR.

Alteration

The Flinn and Ames building had a complete restoration between 2005 and 2010. The owners of the building stated on their web site: "A full renovation of the Flinn Block buildings began in 2005 and was completed in 2010. The Flinn Block now has the best of the old and the best of the new, with restored original woodwork and ceiling tiles, 16-foot ceilings, and large double-hung windows complimented by new wiring, heating, air conditioning and lighting plus a new elevator providing full access to the second stories. Five ground floor retail bays are located on the best block in downtown Albany. The area’s nicest office suites are in the second floor of the Flinn Building. The former warehouse on the second floor of the Ames building has been turned into the area’s most popular event center for weddings, receptions, dances, parties and business meetings." (See Flinn Block.com, "The Historic Flinn Block Building," accessed 10/01/2020.)