Exploring the history of Clark County, Washington

The historic John Stanger home is also located at the Jane Weber Evergreen Arboretum.

Believed to have been constructed in 1867 on the banks of the Columbia River, the John Stanger House is a rare example of Pioneer Plank construction. The house is historically significant for its close association with the earliest period of settlement in Clark County, and is believed to be the county’s second-oldest standing building. 

The simple two-room gabled structure built of milled cedar planks was the first permanent house of Stanger, who came to the area in 1838 as a millwright for the Hudson’s Bay Company, settled on the property by the 1840s, and received a Donation Land Claim patent for the site in 1865. A frame wing was added to the rear of the house in the late 19th century, and the house remained in the Stanger family until the 1960s. 

The Stanger House is on the Clark County Heritage Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The Webers care and their generosity and their love for this land is the result.  

It is hard to imagine the life of a pioneer. But the historic Jane Weber Evergreen Arboretum (JWEA) offers a glimpse into the past, helping us envision how pioneers settled the area and adapted as the world changed around them. In 1839, John Stanger staked a claim to property five miles east of Fort Vancouver. He built a shanty and lived there for four years before building a two-room cabin, where he married and had nine children. It wasn’t until 1867 that he built a more substantial house, which underwent numerous upgrades over the years, eventually becoming locally known as the Stanger Mansion. The historical importance of the John Stanger House has long been recognized both locally and nationally. It was listed on the Cultural Resource Inventory for Clark County, Washington, in 1977, added to the Clark County Heritage Register in 1983, and finally entered the National Register of Historic Places on May 17, 1990. (Garfield) In 2021, the JWEA Board commissioned the Stanger House and Jane Weber Arboretum: Interpretive and Preservation Plan Recommendations to guide development of a plan for the Stanger House’s future use. The Stanger House Plan serves as the next step in the process, providing a JWEA Board-approved strategic vision for the Stanger House. However, significant work remains to be done, including identifying and developing interpretive themes and collaborating with the Historic Preservation Commission on the restoration work necessary to bring this vision to life.