The John H. & Ora Dell Vernon House is located at 124 East Third Street, Molalla, Oregon.  The architectural style is 20th Century Craftsman.  Clues to the construction of the house remain on a piece of the bathroom molding.  Written in pencil is "Feb 1, 1913, Bathroom. Cook and Sawyer Builders-John H. Vernon 1912 - 1913."

The first Molalla Pioneer newspaper, dated March 7, 1913, announced the move into the new house:  “J. H. Vernon is the busiest man in town this week.  He is moving into his fine bungalow on the corner of Third and Engle.  This is one of Molalla’s fine homes of which she is proud.”  Today, the house is privately owned.

John H. Vernon was born in 1880 in Polk County, Oregon.  He was the son of Oregon Trail pioneers John and Serepta Beyerly Vernon.  Serepta crossed the trail, by ox-team, in 1852 with her father, Martin Beyerly,  Serepta’s parents settled at Eola, Polk County, Oregon and lived there for 50 years.

When John was 20 years old, he lived with his brother in Sheridan, Oregon.  He listed his occupation as salesman for a drug company.  By 1913, he had moved to Molalla and started a drug store named Molalla Drug Company.  Around 1928, he moved to Salem, Oregon and took a job as fire warden for Association Fire Patrol.  The 1940 census lists him as retired and he had moved back to Polk County, the county of his birth.  John passed away in 1950.