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Address

143 E A Street
Upland, CA 91786

Evaluation

Building
5/7/2007

Construction Date

1900

Description

A wooden false front lends an air of the old west to this twostory building. The facade is culminated by a parapet which rises from concave curves at each end. A single window is centered in the parapet. Three windows are off-centered but equally spaced on the second floor. The lower level has a variety of openings in four bays, including piers of double-hung sash in the right (east) and penultimate left bays, an entrance atop a pair of steps in the penultimate right bay and a recess containing another entry and a window in the far left bay. Although many of the openings have been reglazed or boarded over, their tall and narrow proportions provide a clue as to the age of the building. In addition to the windows, the building has been altered by the addition of stucco to the west elevation. The property is in a rather deteriorated condition. It sits, with a small setback, facing A Street.

Two theories as to the origins of this evocative remnant of old Upland exist, each with some supporting evidence. One school holds that the structure was erected on its present site, next to the alley, facing A Street, on block 48 of the Magnolia Townsite. The Sanborn maps indicate the presence of a likely building as early as 1907 on the site. In the earliest map the two-story dwelling contained a barber in a storefront on the east end of the facade. By 1912 the dwelling was described as n810dgings;8n an appellation which continued to be used on the 1928 map. The other possibility for the origin of the structure identifies it as a building that was moved from Second Avenue. Historic photographs (circa 1913) reveal a candidate on the west side of the street, three buildinas from the corner of B (Ninth Street).

This building also has a parapet with concave ends, is of wood construction, and has three openings on the upper story and a vent (not a window) centered above a stringcourse in the parapet. Storefronts occupy the street level frontage, identified as grocery in 1907 and 1912 and a pair of unspecified stores in 1928. A dwelling occupied the second story. Early assessments on the property indicate that H.W. Jackson improved it in 1898- 99. The 1898 directory lists Jackson as a grocer, and, indeed, the upper story of Jacksonls Grocery is remembered as the site of the first meeting of the Upland library committee. The Second Avenue building was eventually given the address 183-85. In 1924, the City directories place the Hayman and Rogers grocery at that number. Living upstairs at 185 112 were Lizzie Littooy, tailoress and property owner, Martha Littooy, widow of John, Mrs. Marian Jenkins, and George Matthews. According to the building permits, this structure was demolished in 1958. With the information currently available neither theory can be proved, although the reported demolition of 185 Second Avenue would seem to support the first theory. According to owners of the building in 1981, another possible tenant of the building was the North Ontario Surprise, one of the first newspapers in Upland, founded in 1897. An old Linotype typesetting machine may have once been housed in the building. Regardless of the true beginnings of the building, it represents a unique historical resource. Most likely built at the turn of the century or just before, the building is an example of the kind of settlement architecture that rarely survives the passage of time. Whether it was built to house transients arriving at the Sante Fe railroad station just down the street, or as the home of permanent Upland citizens, or as a grocery store on Second Avenue, the building has important links to Upland's past.