This 1947 aerial photo covers a lot of area of Northeast Portland. From Burnside at the bottom, the view stretches out past Alameda Ridge in the distance. There’s some pretty good detail in the foreground, including Buckman Field Park, Benson Polytechnic High, Sullivan’s Gulch and the site of the future Lloyd Center.
(City of Portland Archives)
Fairley’s Pharmacy is still on NE Sandy Blvd. at 72nd Avenue more than 70 years after this 1940 photo. Soda fountains were once a staple of American drug stores, and Fairley’s still advertises one on their sign. Is it still in fact there? This photo looks west on Sandy.
(City of Portland Archives)
There were some great business signs along SW 4th Avenue north of Washington Street in 1946. “Paradise Inn Chop Suey” is a classic. Except for the block on the immediate left, almost everything we see here is miraculously still standing.
(City of Portland Archives)
Another image of the May 1948 flood that swamped many low lying areas along Portland’s waterfront. This photo looks north along NW Front from under the Steel Bridge ramp. Union Station is to the left and the Broadway Bridge in the background. The industrial property along the right was decades away from becoming McCormick Pier Condos.
(City of Portland Archives)
Officials of some sort stand on the west end of the Broadway Bridge ramp around 1947. The St. Johns trolley bus is probably continuing south on Broadway; turning right would take it down the Lovejoy ramp.
(City of Portland Archives)
Very little has changed in this quiet neighborhood in the last 70+ years. This view is east on SE Ash St. looking to 44th Avenue.
(City of Portland Archives)
Pedestrians along the westside seawall check out river levels during the 1948 flood. A little farther north city crews are hard at work continuing sandbagging operations to prevent flooding along SW Harbor Drive. This view is looking north from the Morrison Bridge sidewalk.
(City of Portland Archives)
