Building History

S.E. Young & Son Department Store Building

The building that houses The Natty Dresser was originally built in 1912 by famed Oregon Architect Charles Burgraff. It was built as the S.E. Young & son Department Store. in 1865 S.E. Young and his partner Mr. Blain started the clothing store that would become known as Blain‘s “clothing for men and boys”  in 1880 or so they had an apparent disagreement about the direction of the shop, and Mr. Young started his own store the SE Young department store. The new store was a general drygoods store with clothing for men and women. By 1912 S.E. Young had outgrown that original store and built the current building. His 1881 building was moved to the corner of second and Lyon Street where it currently houses the Albany regional Museum.  Mr Samuel Ewing Young was also the president of Albany Savings Bank and The First National Bank. About three years after Young & Son Department Store was built Mr. Young suffered a stroke, which left him unable to leave his home.
Note: The Downtown Carnegie Library was built in 1914 on land donated by S.E. and Naomi Young. Naomi carrieed the first book into the library, it was the Holy Bible.
 

The business was sold (c1914) to one of his clerks, a Mr. Hamilton. It was operated as Hamilton‘s department store until they built a new building near the courthouse. At which time Hamilton, Leased the building to Montgomery wards. It was Montgomery Wards from 1936 until 1970 at which time Wards built a new building.

Note: The Fans, the pendant lights and the sprinkler system all date to the 1936 Ward’s remodel.

in the 1970s The Hamilton’s started a new store called Hamilton‘s the Broadway. That is when the main floor of the building was covered in concrete. Eliminating the squeaky floors that Montgomery Wards was known for. When the Broadway closed shop, the building was sold and it became Sid‘s furniture. In 1999. The building was remodeled and became Riley‘s Billiards.  Riley‘s operated there until New Year’s Eve of 2020

 
Oscar and Tamalynne Hult purchased the building in May 2020 and extensively renovated the ground floor and restored the front façade. They moved their shop The Natty Dresser into the building in late October of 2020 opening for business in early November. 

The Natty Dresser is the largest independant menswear shop in the state of Oregon, drawing customers from Roseburg to the South, Portland and Vancouver to the North Bend and Redmond to the East and all along the Oregon Coast.