"His name was not a household word but many of his buildings were" (Content shared with me by Larry McCart in collaboration with his nephew Rick Cook.)
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"My folks Warren and Leona McCart left their farm in South Dakota in 1936 because long periods of drought and severe dust storms (known as the Dust Bowl) made earning a living farming almost impossible. Mom and Dad packed up the old flatbed truck with the dog, five kids, the cookstove and a few belongings and headed to Oregon. What a trip that must have been. They found their way to the Jennings Lodge area and rented a house there. Not long afterward, Mom and Dad bought their dream home in Lake Grove on Railroad Way (now Lower Drive): a one bedroom, no indoor bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen.
McCart Farm in South Dakota 1930s.
Can you imagine seven people living with one bedroom and no bathroom. But Dad was resourceful and accomplished a lot after moving to Oregon. A self-taught carpenter, he added two more bedrooms and a bathroom to the dream home. Dad and Mom together added my sister Nora and me to the family probably just to fill up the house. I was the youngest; Warren, Jr. the oldest. Between Warren, Jr. and me, the pecking order went Virginia, Lois, Don, Grace, Nora, and me, Larry. Now there were nine of us using one bathroom–with no shower.
When Mom and Dad first lived in the Jennings Lodge area, Dad worked as a day laborer. His first job: digging out a basement. Dad didn’t dig too many basements after that first one. His reputation as a skilled carpenter soon brought him sub-contracting jobs where he was able to do carpentry work while enhancing his aptitude for building construction, eventually becoming a successful building contractor himself
Dad built many office buildings, and retail stores in the Lake Oswego - Lake Grove area, which he often wasn’t given credit for. Some that you might be familiar with: Remsen’s Grocery (built for Chet Remsen), Lake Grove Hardware (built for George Carl), Lake Grove Shopping Mall (built for Bud Graybill), Lake Grove Pharmacy, Kalberer’s Grocery, Lake Grove Cleaners.
He also had a hand in constructing The Pinafore Restaurant (for Charles Needham), the Lake Chevrolet building (also built for Charles Needham who owned the building, not the business), Oswego Bowl (built for Art Rossman, Rossman’s Sanitary Service). He did a major remodel of Lake Grove Presbyterian Church and built the Taylor Made Labels building at the corner of Pilkington Road and Boones Ferry.
McCart first home purchase 1937 in Lake Grove on Railway Ave
Taylor Made label building corner of Pilkington and Bryant.
Many homes in the Bryant Road area on Cobb Way, Wildwood, Chapman Way and Boones Ferry Dad built. The Larsens, original owners of Lake Grove Garden Center, hired Dad to build their home. Two jobs Dad talked about proudly: the construction of Mary S. Young’s home on Twin Points and the major remodel of Pepto-Bismol-pink Sharp home on the peninsula at the end of West Point Road. “Everything was pink. Everything.” Dad would exclaim every time he talked about that project. Besides the Pepto Bismol pink color, something else Dad remembered about working on the Sharp house: Mrs. Sharp demanded that all contractors and subcontractors take a lunch breaks.”
17283 Bryant Road
The Richrd Sharpe property
All in all, Warren McCart, Sr. built fourteen office buildings, thirty homes, and did two major remodels between 1940 and 1970. Thank you, Larry, for sharing this part of the McCart family story.
Stay tuned for part 2: the McCart kids.
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