Rucker’s Coffee Cup was a well-known landmark on the southwest corner of SW Broadway at Stark Street in the 1950s. Here we see two photos showing its location directly across Broadway from the Imperial Hotel (now Hotel Lucia) and across Stark from the Oregon Hotel and the Benson Hotel. The Oregon Hotel came down in 1959 to make way for an extension of the Benson. Thanks to VP fan Meredith Kreifels for sending these photos.
(Meredith Kreifels)
(Meredith Kreifels)
Both of these apartment buildings still stand on the west side of SW 11th Avenue. The one on the right is at the corner with Columbia St. Both buildings look better now than they did 35 years ago. The vacant lot on the left is now a high-rise apartment building.
(University of Oregon Libraries)
VP fan John Hamnett was working on the 38th floor of the First National Bank Tower (now Wells Fargo Tower) in 1975 when he took these photos centered on the Willamette River looking northeast and east. Harbor Drive had only recently been removed and Waterfront Park was not yet complete. The World Trade Center construction was just getting underway. Thanks, John!
(John Hamnett)
This circa 1910 street scene shows W. Burlington St. in the city of St. Johns, which was annexed into Portland in 1915. Those look like some pretty substantial buildings; does anyone know if any of them survived or where exactly we’re looking?
(City of Portland Archives)
It could be holiday shoppers crowding the sidewalk outside the Meier & Frank building in 1953. The photo was taken from the top deck of the new parking lot that replaced the Portland Hotel (and was then replaced by Pioneer Courthouse Square). A block down 6th, the 1926 Bedell Building (now Cascade Building) seems to have a lovely two-story arched entrance that is no longer there.
(City of Portland Archives)
This massive excavation was a three-story sub-basement for the Pittock Block, which originally housed the Northwestern Electric Company’s electric sub-station and west side distribution plant. Portland newspaper publisher Henry Pittock’s home was on this site before construction began. This view looks down on the corner of SW 10th and Washington, facing northeast. I’d featured a cropped version of this image previously; VP fan Mike Slama was kind enough to point me to this full version.
(University of Oregon Libraries)
Another view of the comfort station ventilator shown yesterday, this time from the opposite direction. The women’s entrance is on the right, men’s entrance on the left and Pioneer Courthouse is the backdrop. Except for the ventilator’s position (and lack of iron fence on the wall), this scene has changed very little in 99 years.
(University of Oregon Libraries)
