Osmer K. Palmer and his wife purchased the property, which had an existing home, in 1908 from Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Miller.[2] Palmer rebuilt the historic home beginning in 1910[3] and was near completion by the end of 1911. The construction costs were recorded as $6,000.[4] The Palmers expanded the lot after purchasing an adjoining parcel at the Pennsylvania-Folsom intersection in 1920.[5] Four years later in 1924, Palmer traded the entire parcel and home to T.J. Long, for the Long's house further down Pennsylvania Avenue.[6]
The house won a $5 third-place prize in the 1927 Chehalis Better Home Premises contest.[7] A renovation, done by homeowners at the time, was completed in 1999.[3]
Osmer K. Palmer
Osmer Palmer was born in Indiana in 1872, arriving from Tennessee to Chehalis in 1906.[8] He owned a catalogue-based, pre-built home business, expanding it in 1919.[9][10] He founded the Palmer Lumber and Manufacturing Company in Chehalis in 1908.[11] The lumber company factory burned down in 1911 but Palmer had it rebuilt the following year, enlarging the footprint in 1925.[12][13][14] As of 2023[update], the company remains in existence.[15]
The Palmers had three children. His only son, Leon, while attending an aviation training camp as an enlisted student, died of pneumonia in 1918.[18][19] Osmer Palmer died in 1952.[8]
Architecture and features
The home is a 2+1⁄2 story, American Foursquare style residential structure. Following standard Foursquare design, the house rests upon a squared, sandstone foundation and contains a basement. The Palmer House contains a large front porch with several broad pillars. Other features include bay windows, a hipped roof and dormers, and distended eaves.[3]
Significance
The house was officially accepted to the NRHP list on May 15, 1986.[1] As of 2023[update], the Palmer House was one of eleven NRHP sites in the city of Chehalis.
The O.K. Palmer House was awarded recognition as a historic, renovated home by the city of Chehalis via its Chehalis Historic Preservation Commission. The accolade, given in 2006, lists the home as a crucial part of the history of the city and a plaque, denoting the original build and important restoration dates, is displayed on the house.[3]
