Bowman Studio

Bowman Studio. . This imaginative building was built to resemble a castle, complete with crenellations on the parapet. It was built in 1905 by W.S. Bowman, a turn-of-the century photographer, for use as his studio along with retail and residential space. This stone structure replaced a wooden frame building that Bowman had used for a studio previously. After the "Castle" was built, Bowman worked out of the first floor. From 1905 to 2005 the main floor housed a photography studio. The last photographer retired in 2005. Two osteopathic doctors, Gilbert Holt and Orel Hutchins, operated the Riverside Maternity Hospital in the building from 1941 to 1965. The hospital was managed by Phoebe Dykstra. The parapet bears the inscription "W.S. Bowman." Walter Bowman was born in Umatilla County on 8 February 1865. In 1887, be became a photographer under the tutelage of T.C. Ward. In 1890 Bowman bought out Ward and commenced operating his own gallery. In 1896, he married Elizabeth M. Carrol. W.S. Bowman died in 1938. His first cousin, Oliver Purl Bowman, built the Bowman Hotel at the South end of Main Street in 1905 as well. In 1974, the Holt Estate sold the building for $25,000 to Robert P. McKenzie, local optometrist. . This historical marker was erected by City of Pendleton. It is in Pendleton in Umatilla County Oregon