Any evidence of these buildings along West Burnside at N. (now NW) 8th Avenue disappeared decades ago. With the exception of the Park Blocks to the immediate left, this is the last full block of Burnside to be widened in the early 1930s; that project would have taken 20 feet off these buildings. A modern residential high-rise sits on this site now.
(City of Portland Archives)
Tags: Aristo Motor Oil, Brown's Service Station, Columbia Auto Top, Gasco, Gasoline, Oregon, Pennsylvania Tires, Portland, Red Robin Lunch, Shell, Union
February 4, 2013 at 6:47 am
I really like this photo. Thanks!
February 4, 2013 at 7:20 am
There appears to be a car driving into the building on the right.
February 4, 2013 at 7:24 am
The first Red Robin?
February 4, 2013 at 8:15 am
The tallest gas pump is a Wayne “Corinthian Column”. Very rare and desirable to collectors today. Here is a photo of a restored one:
http://live.vcaauction.com/Wayne-Model-492-ROMAN-COLUMN-Gas-Pump_i8459043
February 4, 2013 at 10:15 am
Very quaint photo. All the vintage signs and pumps and lighting would be highly collectable if they were still around.
February 4, 2013 at 10:26 am
yeah, just imagine if the station owner, or even the people pumping their gas, would have known that someday that gas pump would sell for $16,000!! you could have bought a heck of a nice house for that back then.
February 4, 2013 at 10:50 am
“All script accepted”?
February 4, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Love this shot. No great history but it makes your imagination take hold. Think of all the stories you could tell about this spot. Who worked at the filling station. Who visited the lunch counter. Who rode on the street car line. What was Portland like in 1928? Imagine the lives of veterans of WW1 who would have been in their twenties and thirties. Thanks for allowing me that moment of wonder.
February 4, 2013 at 12:59 pm
Love the Red Robin cafe. I wonder if food tasted better back then.
February 4, 2013 at 9:51 pm
I believe that the building on the upper left (“..R Sales Co.”) is the corner of the one still existing at NW 8th and Couch. It’s the north half of the block along 8th, now used by International Culinary Schools, formerly Portland Sheet Music.
February 5, 2013 at 6:57 am
Isaak, yes the food tasted better even in the 1950s, when I used to drop in at inconspicuous, unheralded coffee shops in Portland. A good chili or a tasty soup made a delicious afternoon snack. I’ve wondered if the cooks were using home recipes, or if they learned to cook in the service in WWII.