This wonderful little brick building stood in the shadow of the Portland Gas Co. tank at the southwest corner of NW Front and Glisan Street in 1930. The 1908-09 Sanborn map labels it “Meter Rm. & Laboratory.”
(City of Portland Archives)
Monthly Archives: May 2014
SW Broadway & Columbia, 1950
SW Broadway downtown was a one-way street until it reached Columbia Street in 1950 (here looking north). South of here Broadway was still two-way. A little more discussion about changing to a one-way grid is here in this earlier post.
(City of Portland Archives)
N Philadelphia Ave, c1930
Our Number Man is documenting a corner somewhere along N. Philadelphia Avenue in St. Johns circa 1930. I’m hoping one of our astute Vintage Portland followers will be able to identify the cross street.
(City of Portland Archives)
NW 13th & Lovejoy, 1930
Although labeled NW 12th Avenue, this is actually NW 13th Avenue at Lovejoy looking south. Industrial Northwest Portland was in the business of freight, storage and other heavy industry; paved streets and sidewalks could always come later.
(City of Portland Archives)
NE Union Avenue, 1929
It’s hard to believe anything on this bit of NE Union Avenue could still be standing but the little shop on the right, with the distinctive facade, is still on the east side of Martin Luther King Blvd., just south of Shaver Street.
(City of Portland Archives)
SE Foster Rd & 52nd, 1937
Here’s another look at SE Foster Road at 52nd Avenue, this time looking east down the south side of Foster. It appears all the commercial buildings have changed over the years but the residences along 52nd are still in place. Today’s hot rod builders would probably go nuts over the original parts in the Foster Road Auto Wreckers building.
(City of Portland Archives)
N Ivanhoe & St. Louis, 1932
This classic 1932 photo shows a long-gone slice of Americana. Tom ran a tidy gasoline and automotive service station on the corner of N. Ivanhoe and St. Louis Avenue in St. Johns, but our Number Man had some kind of plans for the future of this corner.
(City of Portland Archives)
Vintage Portland 