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)
An exceptionally clear image of the area between Duniway Park and the Ross Island Bridge in South Portland in 1938. The 4th Avenue (Barbur Blvd.) extension was complete but Harbor Drive (and I-5) were still in the future.
(City of Portland Archives)
Scott Smith sent this fantastic photo, fantastic not only in the image of a long-forgotten Portland building (the city’s first brick building), but in the documentation that comes with it. I’ll let the two images tell the story. Ben Smith was Scott’s great-great uncle and the building was built by his great-great-great grandfather Joseph T. Young. Thanks again, Scott, for a real treasure!
(Scott Smith)
An interesting aerial view of the Northwest Industrial District showing proposed routes of NW Front and Yeon Avenues. At this time Front stopped at Nicolai Street (lower left corner) and Yeon had not yet been built. Yeon would meet St. Helens Road at the foot of Forest Park.
(City of Portland Archives)
Albers Bros. Milling Co. and the Albers Docks were quite a complex along the western Willamette riverfront a century ago. The tall central structure with the grain silos is all that remains today. Although dated circa 1915, this illustration would have predated the 1913 Broadway Bridge which now skirts those silos as it crosses the river. The far north end of Union Station is at left and a very smoky industrial Northwest Portland stretches out beyond.
(City of Portland Archives)
This very detailed aerial view looks down on west side flood waters in the Guild’s Lake area of Northwest Portland during the spring 1948 flood. It also gives a great view of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway yards between Front and Yeon Avenues, including the turntable at the bottom. The Kaiser shipbuilding yard on Swan Island is visible in extreme upper right.
(City of Portland Archives)
Many of the old riverside docks have been demolished along Portland’s west side waterfront as workers prepare to build the seawall. A dredge works just south of the Burnside Bridge. Front Street is to the left of the buildings, and the one with the “CO.” on the side is the Central Block at Ash Street.
(City of Portland Archives)
