Scenes From Douglas County, Oregon

In 1967, when he was 46 years old, Paul’s parents either passed away or were otherwise unable to continue assisting in his care. Paul moved from Hollywood, Florida, to Roseburg, the county seat of Douglas County, Oregon.

Paul had relatives in Oregon though it wasn’t feasible to live with them and he took up residence at a brand new nursing facility, Rose Haven. Paul, who lived to be 85, lived the remainder of his life at the facility.

In his only known picture typed across multiple pieces of paper, Paul created the picture below of Rose Haven. Since his typewriter was wide enough to hold one sheet of paper at a time — assuming Paul typed the picture with a horizontal orientation — it’s a mystery to how he was able to align the two images so accurately.

This picture has graced the lobby of Rose Haven for many years.

Trucks carrying loads of logs are a common site in Douglas County, which in the post World War II era was known as the Timber Capital of the World.

The next several pictures feature the Rochester Covered Bridge. The web page http://covered-bridges.org/bridges/rochester.htm (currently not secure site unfortunately) has this interesting bit of history about the bridge:

The Rochester Covered Bridge, with its droopy-eyed appearance, sits just three miles northwest of Sutherlin among the farms surrounding the Calapooya River.
The design of this bridge is unique among Oregon roofed structures, featuring windows having graceful curved tops.
Built by veteran builder Floyd Frear, the bridge combines both beauty and strength offered by the wooden structure.
In the late 1950s, a nearby covered span was torched and destroyed by a county crew to make way for a new concrete bridge. Rumors had spread that the Rochester bridge would meet the same fate.
Many local residents, fearful that those same county workers who favored progress would wait until nightfall to burn the Rochester Bridge, sat through the night with guns and rifles to safeguard the dilapidated structure. With the arrival of daylight, the bridge was safe.
County commissioners then promised the residents the bridge would not be burned. The Rochester Bridge was remodeled in 1969 when county crews worked to replace portal boarding, the approaches and the abutments.

The first picture of the bridge is from a copy that has been altered by aging and by additions including a caption and typewriter icon. These alterations are partially removed in the remaining pictures of the bridge.

The owner of the barn typed below by Paul is unknown, though the barn is presumed to be in Douglas County.

The next two pictures by Paul depict the historic Stewart Park Bridge built in 1932-33 to connect the Roseburg VA Hospital facilities.

Paul was a member of St. Joseph parish in Roseburg and he typed a portrait of their church building.

The Roseburg Train Station (below) for years had been a center of commerce in the area. After train traffic dwindled, the station was purchased by McMenamins, a company that has given new life to historic buildings throughout the Pacific Northwest.

With restored original features including a vaulted, 16-foot-high ceiling, tongue-and-groove fir wainscoting, and marble molding, the building now thrives as Roseburg Station Pub & Brewery.