Yale Union Laundry Building
Encyclopedia
The Yale Union Laundry Building, also known as the Yale Laundry Building, the City Linen Supply Co. Building, and Perfect Fit Manufacturing, in southeast Portland
in the U.S. state
of Oregon
is a two-story commercial structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Built largely of brick in 1908 and embellished with Italian Revival and Egyptian Revival
decorations, it was added to the register in 2007. Two-story additions in 1927 and 1929 changed the original building into an L-shaped structure that shares a party wall
with a commercial building to the east.
Preservation of elements of Portland's industrial laundry
era and its relation to the women’s labor movement and the rise of the middle class in the United States are factors in the building's listing on the National Register. Built and first operated by Charles F. Brown, an individual businessman, the building was bought in 1927 by Home Services Company, a power-laundry consortium. American Linen Supply and then Perfect Fit Manufacturing, a maker of automotive fabrics, used the building after Home Services sold it in 1950. Acquired by Alter LLC in 2008, the building is home to YU, a contemporary arts center.
Located at 800 Southeast 10th Avenue, the building occupies the west half of the block between Southeast Belmont and Southeast Morrison streets. The southwest corner entry features a stylized Egyptian temple of cast stone
. The west facade
is lined with banks of large windows that helped illuminate and cool the work areas. Other important features of the exterior include a large garage door along Belmont Street and a paved parking lot and water-tower pedestal on the Morrison Street side.
The original building's main floor has vaulted
ceilings, large windows, brick walls, a flat roof, and wooden cross beams. The mezzanine
consists of three rooms. The second floor has large windows and vaulted ceilings, restrooms, and a lunchroom. Stairs and elevators connect the levels, including the basement and its boiler room. A lobby and office in the southwest corner of the main floor can be entered from inside or via the original main door off Southeast 10th Avenue.
s. Steam-driven washing machines and equipment for starching, ironing
, and related tasks made industrial laundries feasible by the turn of the century.
In 1908, Charles F. Brown, who entered the laundry business in the Midwest
in 1892, moved to Portland to build the Yale Laundry Building and to operate an industrial power laundry on its premises. The building's basement contained boilers to heat wash water, and the main part of the first floor had beams capable of supporting heavy washing machines. The first and second floor had large windows to admit light and to release heat and steam. At the time of the building's construction, Portland had 68 commercial laundries of varied types and sizes. By 1916, the Yale Laundry, one of the larger laundries, employed 125 people, many of whom were women.
Federal and state laws regulating hours, wages, and working conditions changed markedly in the United States during the early 20th century. The state's Industrial Welfare Commission, established in 1913, ruled in 1914 that women could not work in laundries for more than 54 hours a week and that work days were not to exceed 9 hours. The commission established a minimum weekly wage of $8.25 for women working in Portland's laundries. By 1917, the work day was reduced to an eight-hour maximum. In 1920, to lower costs related to regulations and the rise of organized labor, several industrial laundries in Portland combined to form the Home Services Company. The new company lowered overhead
by sharing resources and added a pickup and delivery service popular among middle-class families. The company acquired the Yale Union Laundry in 1927.
By 1931, more than 80 percent of the services offered by industrial laundries were sold to individual families. However, as the Great Depression
continued, many people could no longer afford the services, and business declined. The decline continued after World War II
, when electric washers and dryers meant for home use became affordable to a large fraction of the populace. As individual customers disappeared, factory laundries turned to specialized services such as washing of diapers or linens. In 1950, the American Linen Supply Company bought the Yale Laundry Company. In 1959, Perfect Fit Manufacturing began to use the building to make auto seat covers, tire covers, and other automotive fabrics. Perfect Fit remained in the building through 2006. Since 2008, the building has housed YU, a contemporary arts center.
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
is a two-story commercial structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Built largely of brick in 1908 and embellished with Italian Revival and Egyptian Revival
Egyptian Revival architecture
Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile during 1798....
decorations, it was added to the register in 2007. Two-story additions in 1927 and 1929 changed the original building into an L-shaped structure that shares a party wall
Party wall
Party wall is a dividing partition between two adjoining buildings that is shared by the tenants of each residence or business. The wall is sometimes constructed over the center of the property line dividing two terraced flats or row houses so that one half of the wall is on each property...
with a commercial building to the east.
Preservation of elements of Portland's industrial laundry
Industrial laundry
Large institutions that require a constant flow of clean linen, working-clothing or uniform, will often employ the services of an industrial laundry. Hospitals, prisons and hotels, for instance, will usually have their own laundry departments. The organized collection, laundering and timely...
era and its relation to the women’s labor movement and the rise of the middle class in the United States are factors in the building's listing on the National Register. Built and first operated by Charles F. Brown, an individual businessman, the building was bought in 1927 by Home Services Company, a power-laundry consortium. American Linen Supply and then Perfect Fit Manufacturing, a maker of automotive fabrics, used the building after Home Services sold it in 1950. Acquired by Alter LLC in 2008, the building is home to YU, a contemporary arts center.
Description
Cast stone
Cast stone is defined as “a refined architectural concrete building unit manufactured to simulate natural cut stone, used in unit masonry applications”. In the UK and Europe cast stone is defined as “any material manufactured with aggregate and cementitious binder, intended to resemble in...
. The west facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is lined with banks of large windows that helped illuminate and cool the work areas. Other important features of the exterior include a large garage door along Belmont Street and a paved parking lot and water-tower pedestal on the Morrison Street side.
The original building's main floor has vaulted
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
ceilings, large windows, brick walls, a flat roof, and wooden cross beams. The mezzanine
Mezzanine
Mezzanine may refer to:* Mezzanine , an intermediate floor between main floors of a building* Mezzanine, in technology, can refer to a thin sheet of plastic insulating different parts of circuitry from each other in cramped environments, such as laptop interiors* Mezzanine board, or daughterboard,...
consists of three rooms. The second floor has large windows and vaulted ceilings, restrooms, and a lunchroom. Stairs and elevators connect the levels, including the basement and its boiler room. A lobby and office in the southwest corner of the main floor can be entered from inside or via the original main door off Southeast 10th Avenue.
History
The Yale Union Laundry Building was built to house a commercial laundry during an era, roughly 1900 to 1950, in which many urban U.S. households sent out their laundry for cleaning rather than doing it at home. Before the invention of the steam laundry machine in the mid-19th century, women did most domestic washing at home using simple machines such as scrub boards, wooden tubs, and clothes lineClothes line
A clothes line or washing line is any type of rope, cord, or twine that has been stretched between two points , outside or indoors, above the level of the ground. Clothing that has recently been washed is hung along the line to dry, using clothes pegs or clothes pins...
s. Steam-driven washing machines and equipment for starching, ironing
Ironing
Ironing is the use of a heated tool to remove wrinkles from fabric. The heating is commonly done to a temperature of 180-220 °Celsius, depending on the fabric. Ironing works by loosening the bonds between the long-chain polymer molecules in the fibers of the material...
, and related tasks made industrial laundries feasible by the turn of the century.
In 1908, Charles F. Brown, who entered the laundry business in the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
in 1892, moved to Portland to build the Yale Laundry Building and to operate an industrial power laundry on its premises. The building's basement contained boilers to heat wash water, and the main part of the first floor had beams capable of supporting heavy washing machines. The first and second floor had large windows to admit light and to release heat and steam. At the time of the building's construction, Portland had 68 commercial laundries of varied types and sizes. By 1916, the Yale Laundry, one of the larger laundries, employed 125 people, many of whom were women.
Federal and state laws regulating hours, wages, and working conditions changed markedly in the United States during the early 20th century. The state's Industrial Welfare Commission, established in 1913, ruled in 1914 that women could not work in laundries for more than 54 hours a week and that work days were not to exceed 9 hours. The commission established a minimum weekly wage of $8.25 for women working in Portland's laundries. By 1917, the work day was reduced to an eight-hour maximum. In 1920, to lower costs related to regulations and the rise of organized labor, several industrial laundries in Portland combined to form the Home Services Company. The new company lowered overhead
Overhead (business)
In business, overhead or overhead expense refers to an ongoing expense of operating a business...
by sharing resources and added a pickup and delivery service popular among middle-class families. The company acquired the Yale Union Laundry in 1927.
By 1931, more than 80 percent of the services offered by industrial laundries were sold to individual families. However, as the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
continued, many people could no longer afford the services, and business declined. The decline continued after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when electric washers and dryers meant for home use became affordable to a large fraction of the populace. As individual customers disappeared, factory laundries turned to specialized services such as washing of diapers or linens. In 1950, the American Linen Supply Company bought the Yale Laundry Company. In 1959, Perfect Fit Manufacturing began to use the building to make auto seat covers, tire covers, and other automotive fabrics. Perfect Fit remained in the building through 2006. Since 2008, the building has housed YU, a contemporary arts center.
See also
- Lima Cleaning and Pressing Company BuildingLima Cleaning and Pressing Company BuildingThe Lima Cleaning and Pressing Company Building is a historic structure located along South Main Street in Lima, Ohio, United States. Built in 1890, it is an example of an early style of commercial architecture.-Architecture:...
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Southeast Portland, OregonNational Register of Historic Places listings in Southeast Portland, OregonThe following list attempts to comprehensively present the full set of National Register of Historic Places listings in Southeast Portland, Oregon, and offers brief descriptive information about each of them...