Space Place House

we found this gun

The gun we found tucked in the basement rafters, once everything was gutted added some fun to our otherwise devastating discoveries.

It was rusted and unusable and after doing some research I found out where it was manufactured and when but not much else.  Late 19th century, hand revolver, make H & A.  Hopkins & Allen top-break revolver.  Why would someone stash their gun in the basement and never retrieve it.  Maybe they were looking for a permanent hiding spot, maybe they had to cover up their crime.  All kinds of conjectures came up from friends and family.  This finding really felt exciting and I decided to go to town hall records to see who owned this house at that time, hoping to track down some interesting piece of information.  After spending weeks researching the deeds and titles associated with our house, I learned that this house was owned by many families, all the way back to 1907 where the trail went dead.  Between 1897 and 1906 I could not find any information.  The records were not kept as well.  Even the records from 1907 were all handwritten.  The gun was rusted and unusable, the Oregon rains took their toll.  Nevertheless I am planning to make a collage with the gun and all the other things we found, and leave it in the house as its own bit of history, a memento for generations to come of the history of a Portland Victorian.