This is a very nice early photo of Portland’s Corbett/Lair Hill neighborhood with the Willamette River, Northeast Portland and Mt. St. Helens forming a backdrop. I believe the large house (actually a duplex) just beyond the mostly-empty block with the small house at lower right is still in existence, one lot north of the corner of Water Ave. and Whitaker St. The big building at center left is probably the original Failing School.
(City of Portland Archives)
The 1894 Burkhard Building dominated the northeast corner of E. Burnside at Union Ave. in this 1933 photo. The building “arcades” on either side of Burnside were the result of a street widening project in the late 1920s. The Burkhard Building was demolished the next year.
(City of Portland Archives)
Before the Library Association of Portland opened their new Central Library on SW 10th in 1913, the library was in this building on SW Stark between Broadway and Park Ave. This circa 1902 view looks southwest at Stark and Broadway. In later years the Liberty Theater would be on this site but the Bank of California occupies this block now.
(City of Portland Archives)
The 1886 Abington Building was Portland’s first five-story building. Located on the east side of SW Third between Stark and Washington Streets, the Abington was flanked on the north by the Mckay building, and the Council Building on the south. It was demolished in 1967.
(University of Oregon Libraries)
This home sat on the northwest corner of SW 11th and Market Street in this circa 1910 photo (looking at the 11th Avenue side here). It was demolished in 1970 and, perhaps not surprisingly, the location is a surface parking lot today.
(University of Oregon Libraries)
Interesting perspective in this photo looking straight down on SW Broadway as it cuts through the heart of downtown in 1960 (south is up). The parking lot just left of center will become Pioneer Courthouse Square a quarter-century later. Very few blocks have escaped change in the last 50 years.
(City of Portland Archives)
This 1920 photo looks west towards Marquam Hill over what will become Duniway Park. Several of the houses along the upper road, SW Broadway Drive, are still there, while everything along the bottom street, SW 6th/Terwilliger Blvd, is gone (compare with this photo). I believe the nearest building on the far right (with the arched window) sits in the northwest corner of the future Duniway Park. We’ve seen photos of the work to fill this gully here and here. Lair Hill is probably on the left foreground.
(City of Portland Archives)
Vintage Portland 