The Burnside Bridge is shown nearing completion in this 1926 image looking east. The widening of Burnside Street farther east would not happen for a few more years. The large orange block could be an artist’s mockup to visualize a billboard atop the building. Any other ideas?
(City of Portland Archives)
Tags: Historic Photo, Portland, postaday2011, Powers Warehouse and Shipping, Princess Hotel
October 10, 2011 at 7:12 am
Well, if it wasn’t behind the electrical pole, I would have thought it was an eighty-five year old strip of scotch tape. However, I think your guess is better. At least in this corner of the multiverse. If you’re a Pratchett fan, one could assume this is the work of a lazy iconograph imp.
October 10, 2011 at 8:12 am
Oh man, if only Burnside still looked like that… looks dreamy compared to the current reality
October 10, 2011 at 4:35 pm
The Hotel Princess. That is a new one on me, hadn’t ever heard of it.
October 10, 2011 at 4:50 pm
I have a photo of the Burnside Bridge fancied up for the opening in 1926 that does have what appears to be a large sign in that area, has a very visible white retangular edge to whatever it says.
October 10, 2011 at 6:12 pm
Roxanne is this the picture your talking about? http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?a=23935&c=27928
You can see the billboard in the distance.
October 10, 2011 at 6:35 pm
A rich source of old photos is shots like this, which were used by the billboard companies to sell billboard space. They were shot to show what a passing motorist would see. Usually the billboard space was just whited out. I’ve never seen an orange one.
October 11, 2011 at 8:03 am
Good to have you back. I spent the past week clicking on the RSS feed, forgetting why it was empty. This is nearly the same spot in Street View http://g.co/maps/5e36e They’re using different camera lenses so the views are distorted in different ways and don’t look the same. Looks like the billboard got moved to a new building.
October 13, 2011 at 3:16 am
Sorry Todd, when I click on that the site is malfunctioning. I’ll try it again later.