The debate continues over the merits of saving or demolishing old buildings. People are overheard insisting, “That old house needs to come down to make room for a parking lot,” or, the opposite, “That 100-year-old home built by our town’s pioneer doctor needs to be saved.”
In 1970, Dr. Henry Inlow’s 100-year-old, well maintained home in Ashland, Ore., became an example.
Inlow built the house on Main Street when he moved his family from Benton County to Ashland in 1868. Later, when Main Street became valuable business property, the Inlows moved their house to the back of their lot on Hargadine Street.
Dr. Inlow had owned a drug store that was lost in the 1879 plaza fire, but he continued his practice until he died in 1903. He was very active in Ashland and was a founding member of the International Order of Odd Fellows.
None of his descendents lived in the old family home when it was torn down in 1970 to become a parking lot for the Oregon Shakespearean Festival and downtown businesses.
Few who park on the Hargadine Street lot today are aware the Inlow family once lived there.
Source: Gillespie, Bernice. Ashland Daily Tidings 12 Feb. 1970. Print.
