The corner shop at SE 39th and Lincoln is still with us today, minus the awning. The grass parking strip has been lost to another lane of traffic for Cesar E Chavez Blvd., so it doesn’t look quite as suburban and quaint as it did in 1934.
(City of Portland Archives)
Tags: Bagdad Theatre, Depression, Flying Down to Rio, Oregon, Portland
September 27, 2012 at 6:47 am
Have seen this in the archives before and the info posted along with it says “Organization: D H Kienow Groceries.” So could this the original Kienow store?
I had been browsing the city site because a contractor friend is moving into the building across the street, on the NE corner, and said that in his deed records, it mentions his building being a Kienows. Could the store have been using both buildings?
September 27, 2012 at 7:43 am
Love seeing old buildings still with us: http://goo.gl/maps/aufpz
September 27, 2012 at 9:30 am
Looks like “Flying Down to Rio” was playing at the Bagdad!
September 27, 2012 at 9:56 am
Looking at the Google street view, I would like to know how the cars parked facing west on Lincoln are able to get there as the sign says “do not enter” for westbound traffic. By the way, that is a cluster f**k to have that “no enter” there. This Portland is not kind to cars.
September 27, 2012 at 10:17 am
Nice picture of 39th street.
“TODAY A CELEBRATION SALE
AT KIENOW’S FIVE FOOD STORES
To Commemorate the Opening of Our New and Finer Store and
Market at E. 39th and Lincoln …. It will pay you to visit us!
Today our doors swing open in a formal opening of our brand new modern store at East 39th and Lincoln. Here is represented the very latest type of equipment which will expedite you shopping, making it easier for you. Greatly augmented stocks and uniqueness of arrangement make this the model store where you will find it a pleasure to shop.”
It is a very near a full page ad. There is a picture of the new store in the ad. It is the bigger building across the street from the one in this picture in today’s VP post, still standing today.
Advertisement in the Morning Oregonian, Saturday, 12/14/1935, page 7
in 10/1/1926, there is a Kienow’s Grocery No. 3 at Thirty-ninth and Lincoln, 587 East Thirty-ninth street. Would odd number addresses be on the west side of the street back then?
September 27, 2012 at 12:23 pm
The building in the photo was 387 (not 587) E 39th under the old numbering system. It seems likely that this was Kienow’s #3 before they opened across the street.
September 27, 2012 at 1:01 pm
@ Ralph,
Lincoln Street is a bicycle boulevard and that treatment, sir, is called a diverter. It’s made so that drivers cannot continue straight on Lincoln at Cesar Chavez, reducing traffic volumes and making the street more comfortable for vulnerable road users.
“This Portland” is great because we have diverters and here’s hoping we install many more.
September 27, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Kienows first name was Dan.
September 27, 2012 at 4:37 pm
@Reza at the risk of going hopelessly down a tangent (please indulge me for a second), how DID those cars in the street view end up on the other side of that converter? Can you still turn right from 39th? I’m genuinely curious. There are quite a few things I’ve seen Portland do to promote the increased cycling since I’ve moved here that I don’t remember encountering anywhere else, and I confess that even after almost four years some of them still confuse me.
September 27, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Awesome site by the way. I found it a couple of weeks ago looking for old pictures of my new city on a lark and really struck gold. The best part has got to be the community of ridiculously knowledgeable Portlanders sharing their research, stories, and links. Blows me away all the time how much history you guys know.
September 27, 2012 at 4:42 pm
converter-diverter? Did those cars come in from the far end and then do a 1950′s 3 point turnaround to utilize streetside parking?
September 27, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Heh, Swype got me with that one. Now I’m just adding to the confusion calling it a converter!
September 27, 2012 at 7:08 pm
I think they probably cut through the parking lot
September 27, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Apparently the Google camera car went right through there.
September 27, 2012 at 8:04 pm
Yeah, I noticed that too. I wonder if that cyclist in the one shot gave it an earful.
September 27, 2012 at 10:25 pm
@ Kevin:
No worries, that’s a valid question. In fact, you can see the same thing at Cesar Chavez Blvd @ Clinton Street further south. My guess is that some drivers do a 3-point turn to park in those on-street spaces immediately beyond a diverter — and some willfully break the law by ignoring the Do Not Enter–Except Bicycles signs.
September 27, 2012 at 10:31 pm
And just to clarify, no left or right turns can be made at Lincoln or Clinton Streets from Cesar Chavez Blvd as well. There are other diverters around town (think Going Street @ MLK Blvd and 15th Avenue) where drivers can still turn right from major streets onto bike boulevards, but no left turns are allowed, and all vehicular traffic on the bike boulevard must turn right at the diverter.
September 27, 2012 at 11:42 pm
I think the Google car was traveling eastward, not westward. You’re looking out the back of the car if you look westward. The only way to tell is by the progression of the dark blue car that I believe was following the Google car eastward.
September 28, 2012 at 6:38 am
Thanks for the response Reza. It’s quite fascinating to me how far this city seems willing to go to accommodate alternative transit (I grew up the greater Los Angeles area, and at the time the only “improvement” that was attempted car pool lanes on virtually every freeway).
And Doug, you’re definitely right about the direction of the Google car. Not only can you watch the car follow behind it, but if you look out what would be the front you can watch a convertible make a right onto 39th. At least the mental image I had of a couple of Google employees with slightly confused looks on their faces driving through a no cars sign while a local cyclist gives them a classic “what the heck man?” gave me a good chuckle at work yesterday.