At first glance you’d think these two imposing homes on NE Union Avenue at Knott Street are long gone. Surprisingly, they both still stand today, as does the third home in the background. It appears both have had the elevated ground excavated and the basements removed so the first floors sit at street level today.
(City of Portland Archives)
The Fairmount Hotel opened in 1905 for the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition. By the time of this photo circa 1951 it was known as the Leonard Apartments. It’s still on NW 26th Avenue between Upshur and Vaughn Streets and is known as the Historic Fairmount Apartments.
(City of Portland Archives)
SE 82nd Avenue at Division Street was a bucolic two-lane road back in 1934. Just beyond the gas station is the long, low structure that housed the Mayfair Greens and Fairways golf center. Mayfair was not a full golf course but a driving range (with protective nets guarding 82nd Avenue) and putting greens that opened in 1932. The bottom photo looks south down 82nd.
(City of Portland Archives)
This 1940 photo looks eastward down the center of SE Belmont Street at 28th Avenue. Many buildings of this era sported awnings to keep cool in the days before air conditioning.
(City of Portland Archives)
Construction is underway on the northwest corner of N. Stanton Street & Kerby Avenue in 1955. What could have been going on here, and when were the rest of the homes, which likely fronted on N. Morris Street, razed?
(City of Portland Archives)
The owners of this house at SE 21st & Taggart ran a tidy little vegetable and grocery stand out front in 1934. It probably helped them get through the Depression years. It appears it was “Taggert” with an “e” back then; now it’s spelled “Taggart” with an “a.”
(City of Portland Archives)
In this view of East Burnside where it intersects with 12th Avenue and Sandy, traffic seems to be moving in an orderly manner, perhaps aided by a traffic officer directing from the island in the middle of it all? The Tik-Tok Drive-In was going strong in 1941, seen just beyond the movie poster for “Rage in Heaven” starring Robert Montgomery and Ingred Bergman.
(City of Portland Archives)
Vintage Portland 