Woods Page

The Woods House

This ramshackle house has drawn gawkers for year, and the moods it evokes have been captured by many a Photographer. The place, which is less than a mile north of Linn Road on the east side of Highway 62, just seems to get better with age.

The house dates to 1870, when it was built by Marvin Sylvester Wood, a Civil War veteran who filed a homestead claim just north of Eagle Point in 1869. Sometime between 1890 and 1895 the upstairs was remodeled, creating the distinctive center dormer that became the signature of the old house.

Although many colorful souls have lived under the peaked roof, un- doubtedly the most celebrated was Walter Wood, who was born in the house in 1882. Famous for a glorious beard that earned him the nickname Old Whiskers, Walter also boasted a hat with a band that announced "It's sure Hell to be poor." Not that he was. Wood raised 300 head of cattle and hauled acres of wheat to market each year.

In 1947, the state rerouted Highway 62 through his house but agreed to move the house to a spot he chose on the other side of the highway. He lived out his days at the new homeplace, sitting on the wrap-around porch watching the cars go by. After his death in 1974, ownership of the house passed to his housekeeper, who sold it and the surrounding land in 1983 to a California property owner.

Our history of the house comes from Barbara Hegne's "Unforgettable Pioneers." Hegne and other members of the Eagle Point Historical Society hope to preserve the old place.

"There's a lot of people who live out here who really have their heart in that house," Hegne says. "We're earnestly thinking about doing something, but we haven't really pushed it. We're just kind of in the talking stage." (The original article from Mail Tribune, 12/30/97)

Late Info: The Woods house is do to be moved into Eagle Point in the short future, to become part of a Museum. (Aug/2000)

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