Snapshot of Lane County in the 1890's

Singing teachers and piano and organ instructors were plentiful in the Nineties.

Local Influences

• 1890 Eugene Population reaches 2478
• 1895 Wallis Gifford Nash became the new Director of the UO Department of Music
• 1899 Street paving (through 1908)
• 1899 Rental property in great demand

 
National Influences

• 1890 The music industry was one of the largest and most innovative in America. Music dealers, manufacturers and distributors all had retail stores. Shops ranged from elegant showrooms for pianos and organs to dry goods stores with printed music, a few guitars and concertinas. Department stores also began to enter the music business.
• Most band, stringed and fretted instruments were sold by music teachers hoping to earn an extra dollar. Gibson Guitar Company developed an extensive “teacher-agent” program to boost sales and encourage teachers to sell their line of guitars and mandolins. A few teachers also opened small stores.
• 1891 Carnegie Hall opens in New York
• 1893 Piano production fell 50% during the economic panic of 1893
• 1895 - 1898 Spanish-American War started
• 1896 One of the first school orchestras was established in Wichita, Kansas, in 1896.  Public support for music education encouraged schools to hire music teachers and create band and orchestra programs for their students.
• 1896 The craze of the new genre of music called “Ragtime” sweeps across the southern portions of the country. Places like New Orleans develops Jazz music and the craze lasts until about 1918
• 1897 Composers Scott Joplin, James Scott, and Joseph Lamb establish, popularize ragtime, give birth to America’s popular music industry, ending reliance on Europe.