The Fremont Bridge was still a couple of years away from completion when this photo was taken of the I-405 project. The center span would be lifted into place in March, 1973. This view looks northeast from industrial Northwest Portland, across the Willamette, and into North Portland where I-405 meets I-5.
(City of Portland Archives)
This nice brick and cast-iron building was erected on the southeast corner of SW 2nd and Oak in 1884 at a cost of $20,000. This photo dates to 1959; the building was demolished in 1965.
The first of these side-by-side buildings was the old Knights of Columbus building, build circa 1920. The other, less architecturally inspiring, building adjoined it on the west side. The two formed the Aero Club and they stood at SW Park and Taylor until 1998 when they were demolished and replaced with the Paramount Hotel.
(City of Portland Archives)
(City of Portland Archives)
You could get a Coca-Cola or a bowl of chili at the Nite Owl Cafe at the corner of N. Williams and Russell in 1937. None of this exists today.
(City of Portland Archives)
A fully rigged three-masted sailing ship sits tied to the seawall between the Morrison and Burnside Bridges in 1968. This is likely the Nippon Maru, a sail training ship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1931. Harbor Drive had not yet been removed to make way for Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
(City of Portland Archives)
The 1881 Ladd Block, on the northwest corner of SW 1st and Columbia, survived until 1965 when it was demolished almost overnight and replaced with a paved parking lot. When the Benjamin Franklin Plaza building (now Umpqua Bank Plaza) was built across SW 1st Avenue, some of the cast-iron pieces from the Ladd Block were installed on the 19th floor.
This is a lovely view down SW 6th Avenue one hundred years ago. Horses still outnumber automobiles by a large margin on the wide streets. The 1907 Wells Fargo building on the right, between SW Oak and Stark, is Portland’s first steel-framed building and is considered the city’s first skyscraper.
(City of Portland Archives)
Vintage Portland 