In 1913, Jacob Weil and his four sons (Reuben, Jake, Sam and Morris) opened their store in the Donelson Building at E. Main Street and Third Avenue. In 1917, the Weil family acquired this property (formerly the site of the Tualatin Hotel) and erected this new home for Weil's Department Store.
Boasting the slogan “Everything to wear for men, women and children,” Weil's was the largest department store between Portland and the coast. The store attracted people from an expansive region stretching from Portland's west hills to Tillamook and Astoria. Customers also traveled from as far south as McMinnville and Newberg.
In a 2001 interview for the Hillsboro Historical Society, Reuben's grandson, Forrest Weil, said, “It was an old fashioned department store. It had oiled wooden floors and 10,000 square feet of floor space. One wall, twenty feet high, was stacked with shoes and boots.” Business transactions were shipped up to a balcony via a vacuum tube.
The Weil's Department Store era came to an end in August of 1966. That was when the store held its huge going-out-of-business sale. According to Forrest Weil, there was some sadness to the event and “people came from all around and were lined up on the street before the store opened.”
At some point, the original brick front elevation and architectural details were covered over by a modernized façade. Nevertheless, this building is significant for its role in Hillsboro's mercantile history and also for its association with the prominent Weil family.
