Collection is open for research.
Materials originally designated as Mss 82 were the gift of Philip Buehner, October 1965 (Lib. Acc. 10185); materials previously designated as Mss 82-1 were the gift of the Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, are of Betty Johnstone, March 1980 (Lib. Acc. 15063).
Philip Buehner was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1858. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1879, with a degree in mechanical engineering. He moved west in 1884, and built municipal water-supply projects for various cities in Washington state, including Seattle, Yakima, and Spokane. In 1887, he moved to Portland, Oregon, and in the early 1890s, he formed a partnership with Wolff & Zwicker Iron Works (called Wolff, Zwicker, & Buehner), which manufactured the pipes used to construct the Bull Run water system for Portland. He later became a lumberman, operating the Western Lumber Company (which merged to form the Eastern and Western Lumber Company), the Carlton Lumber Company in Carlton, Oregon, and the Buehner Lumber Company in North Bend, Oregon, before retiring in 1927. He also operated the Buehner Investment Company.
Buehner married Martha Habighorst in 1883, and they had three children. Philip Buehner died in 1940.
Sources: Sources: "Death Takes Lumberman: Philip Buehner, 82, Bull Run Builder," Oregonian, October 16, 1940, Page 14; "A Great Plant: Where the Pipes for the Bull Run System Were Made," Oregonian, January 1, 1895, Second Part, Page 18; collection materials.
Philip Buehner papers, Mss 82, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection was processed and described by Mikki Tint in 2005 and 2006. Collection guide was revised by Katie Mayer in October 2024 to eliminate series, expand biographical information, and conform to curent standard. The materials in folders 4-23 of Box 1 and the minute book in Box 2 were previously designated as Mss 82-1.
This collection consists primarily of records and papers relating to Philip Buehner's business activities. A significant quantity of this material is business-related correspondence, some of which relates to Buehner's work on water-supply projects in Seattle, Spokane, and Yakima, Washington. Also included is an 1893 agreement between Wolff & Zwicker Iron Works and Philip Buehner to enter into a contract with Hoffman & Bates to manufacture a steel conduit to bring Bull Run River water to the city of Portland, Oregon; materials relating to the Buehner Lumber Company, including a price list and minute book; patent records; contracts; rules and regulations of various water companies; and receipts. In addition to the business materials, the collection includes a draft will for Henry Habighorst, Buehner's father-in-law.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.