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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Downing Building

historic building in Bend, Oregon, USA

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ5303191 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Downing Building is a historic commercial building in downtown Bend, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1920 by local stage driver and restaurateur William P. Downing.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

It housed The Bus Depot during the 1980s.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Downing Building” as historic building in Bend, Oregon, USA. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Downing, Building and historic.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1920, 2004—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Downing, Building and historic providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Downing Building”, the useful work is to connect “historic building in Bend, Oregon, USA” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5303191. Authority coordinates are 44.060, -121.311. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1920 and 2004.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Downing Building”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Downing Building primary sources, Downing Building archive and Downing research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Downing Building”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Downing Building” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.