This is my last post for Vintage Portland. After 4-1/2 years, about 1,100 posts and almost 3 million page views, I’ve decided to hang it up. But don’t be sad, VP will carry on under new stewardship. I’m pleased to announce that the website will now be run by the City of Portland Archives & Records Center (PARC), the same people who have so generously allowed me to use their materials for so many great views of Old Portland. They have vastly greater resources to draw from than I could ever hope to have, so new and wonderful photos, maps and other documents will still appear regularly on this website. They are also assuming control over other Vintage Portland social media sites, so expect to see some revitalized content there too.
While I value the collaboration with PARC over the years, I’m looking forward to being an outsider, seeing fresh images, being surprised at what is presented, joining the conversation, and digging into a few mysteries myself. I know there will be days when I miss publishing these gems, but the time has come for me to turn the keys over to an enthusiastic group with fresh ideas and perspectives. Portland has such a rich history, and PARC has done such a great job of preserving our past, I’m confident they will take this space to places I never could.
I appreciate the enthusiasm, passion and knowledge of the Vintage Portland community. It’s gratifying to see the level of discussion some subjects spark, and that discussion adds considerable value to the images we see. Mysteries solved, historical facts unearthed, context given through personal experiences, and even the rare heated comments have made my efforts even more enjoyable. And I’ve had some great contributions sent in too, dug up from personal archives or discovered at garage sales, all little gems.
Thanks for all your support over the years. We won’t publish any new content next week while the transition takes place but PARC will begin a new era of old Portland on Monday, June 23. I’ll see you in the comments section!
Dan Davis
Vintage Portland 
Thanks Dan. It’s been fun.
Thanks for all the photos, I’ve really enjoyed them. I’m happy to hear the site will live on, and I hope you’ll be moving on to other interesting endeavors.
Thank you for this post. It is my opportunity to say thank you for the original help you gave me two years ago in looking for Crosetti Bros. My search initially began not for fun, but in a search to start tracing a heart condition my 16 year old had just been diagnosed with. I was able out to find some history to that and Portland was part of my puzzle. Best of luck to you!
Thanks, Dan, for all you’ve done. As a pdx expatriate I’ve been so glad for your efforts and your passion in preserving old Portland on the web. That was my Portland. And now you’ve started something that can go on bringing so much enjoyment to so many. Again… thanks.
From all of us who are Portland history buff’s, THANK YOU DAN! It has been fun.
What a wonderful trove you’ve left for those who may follow us!
Thank you for all of your efforts in making this happen, Dan. I greatly enjoy checking each new post and love seeing P-town’s rich history represented here. Also, it has been a venue to reconnect with old friends from the old neighborhood (NE 30th & Klickitat area), some of whom I hadn’t been in touch with for well over 40 years.
Thank you for all your hard work on this site. The pictures and stories you have posted over the years have given me such a rich understanding of the city and have allowed me to see Portland in a whole new perspective. You will be missed. Best of luck to you!
Sorry to hear that you’re retiring from the blog. I’ve enjoyed reading it these past several years. Thank you for all that you’ve done! I’m glad that it will live on in good hands.
Thank you for all the time you’ve given to this. It’s been fascinating.
THANX DAN 4 TRIGGERING MEMORIES..I REMEMBER THE BEAUTIFUL ST. JOHNS BRIDGE..WE LIVED AT THE END OF KILLINGSWORTH ST.AND DAD TAUGHT ME 2 DRIVE ON SWAN iSLAND!!
jolly good show it’s been: thanks for the memories Dan!
I for one must say thank you as a relatively new Portlander–your efforts here define the word special. I arrived to stay in Portland, to the best of my recollection, eight years ago yesterday. I knew before I came that the Portland of now represented much that I hold special–neighborhoods, mass transit, museums, parks, I could go on and on. Never did I expect to find a Web site like Vintage Portland to feed my curiosity about my new hometown ‘s yesteryear, a curiosity whose appetite grew by ravenous leaps and bounds with every photo and post and plethora of comments on here. I look forward to these new folks and their efforts, lips smacking with delight at the prospects. Oh, and I really like finding the Portland of now and comparing it with the Portland of yesteryear, then posting about those comparisons on my blog–Portland Oregon Daily Photo–so the fact that Vintage Portland shall go on makes me a happy photographer/blogger. Thanks!
Thanks Dan. I’ve enjoyed every posting & relived childhood memories a hundred times. I believe our family arrived in Oregon City in 1849 (Gage) and first to farm west of the Willamette…so PDX is very much our home ground. Look forward to PARC’s continuation of your excellent postings!
VP is the only email I receive that I consistently open and enjoy! Thank you.
Thank you Dan! You have been an invaluable resource for many of us. I have even shared your posts here at the Engineering/Architectural company where I work. Everyone is always excited to see the historical side of Portland.
Thanks for all your work on this site, it is my daily go-to!
Thanks for creating this amazing site! I stumbled onto it I think when you were about a year and a half in to posting and it has become a very much enjoyed daily routine since then.
I hope you can take a lot of satisfaction from all the people (as evidenced by the many fine comments on this blog) who you have affected in a positive way, and brought a little bit of daily enjoyment to, with your efforts over the years. Your work here is truly appreciated and will be missed.
Also, let me also thank you for not simply walking away (which after years of posting you were certainly entitled to do!) but instead making the further efforts to pass this along to worthy hands so that all of us can continue to enjoy exploring the fascinating history of Portland with our morning coffee every day! Thank you!
Thank you, Dan for initiating (instigating?) this project. It has gone from being an enjoyable delving into historical trivia into becoming a valuable reference resource in its on right. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve researched some obscure building or Portland street name on Google only to have Vintage Portland posts be in the top search results.
Add to that the knowledge of our resident armchair historians and we get a wealth of information that the more traditional resources often aren’t able to provide on their own, or in some cases, correct information they do provide. This has been and, I hope, continues to be a fantastic example of crowd sourcing done right.
And let me be the first to welcome our new overlords at PARC; just don’t be too discouraged when you hear “Dan already posted that.”
Good luck and best wishes moving into the future, Dan. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section.
Thank you so much for maintaining this site. I love it and check in nearly every day!
thanks Dan! this is one of my favorite places on the net, and the new stewards have some big shoes to fill.
Thank you for your wonderful work here, Dan. I am glad it will continue, and hope we will still see you around here. Best of luck with your future endeavors!
Yes, thanks, Dan for all of your efforts in maintaining this site. Portland’s my hometown & I spent a lot of time exploring it when I was a teen in the 60’s. This site has brought back a lot of great memories. I’m glad you have someone taking this site over because I look for the posts every morning & would miss it if it were to end.
Can I just say thank you! I always get excited when I see an email from Vintage Portland. Good luck to you and thanks again.
Adding my appreciation for all the time and effort on such a worthy endeavor.
Thank you for starting and maintaining this site, which has become a must-see resource.. This old Portlander hopes you know how much pleasure, both with the pictures and previously-unknown facts, you have brought to so many of us.
We and posterity owe you so much, thanks for your many hours of research.
Thank you so much for all of your work: the great photos and all of the research that goes into your stories about them. Vintage Portland is one of the websites I check every day, and I’m glad I can still count on that. You’ve shown me views of my neighborhood that I never knew existed, but my favorite post ever was in March of 2012, when you posted a photo of the Western Cooperage. My dad worked there and I had heard so many stories about it. My Proud-Native-of-St.-Johns father died in 1997, and I never saw a picture of that place until you posted it. Now, thanks to you, I can show that to my son.
I want to add a big thank for your efforts also. This site is a great connection to tying today with yesterday, using everyone’s expertise, memories, and experiences to bring it alive every day. Looking forward to where it goes from here! Good luck Dan!
Thanks, Dan. As a Portlander stranded on the East Coast, this site has brought many warm feelings of home to the fore. Learned alot, and always appreciated the generously large resolution of the images you posted, and that others shared.
I look at VP first thing every day, and am glad to see it will continue. It has been invaluable in creating and solving mysteries for the history buff! Good luck in future endeavors!
Thank you so much for all the wonderful photos and for educating me about Portland’s colorful history! Your hard work is so appreciated by all. Best wishes in everything else you do!
+1!
Looks like there are a lot of people just like me whose first order of business Mon-Thurs is to click on to Vintage Portland and look at an old picture of familiar surroundings. It’s provided me with numerous conversation topics with friends and family. So many thanks Dan, for the past posts, for taking steps to assure the site continues, thanks for playing a role in my daily routine.
Thanks so much for all your hard work. I have really enjoyed your
posts. Looking forward to the future content.
Thanks for the work, daily / weekly input is a hard road to trod I applaud your efforts, enjoy the other side of the page.
Your post in my email is always opened first. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks for all the great photos!
Thank you so very, very much for this site and your enthusiasm for it over these years. Looking forward to your comments! Well done, Sir!
Thanks for a great blog, and for all your hard work digging up pics and facts about them.
And thanks for finding a new owner of Vintage Portland so that it will continue to amaze us with each new (old) photo.
Thank you.
Thank you for your dedication and stewardship of this fine blog. You did an outstanding job curating all those posts and your efforts brought together an online community with a truly amazing wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm about this city. I’ve learned a ton about this city from here and have come to look forward to the comment threads as much as the images themselves since I started visiting. Great job!
Thank you for the tremendous effort and contribution Dan. You deserve to sit back and enjoy your creation in same carefree way that we, your grateful viewers have. You have set the bar very high.
Thank you, Dan! I enjoyed your emails every morning!
Thank you so much for your work on this site! It’s so amazing to see the history behind this little city of ours. Look forward to seeing what you do next.
Dan, there’s absolutely no way I can thank you enough for your time and effort with Vintage Portland. Welcome to our side of the computer as a poster and participant.
Judging by all the comments above I’m one of many who has looked forward to and appreciated your wonderful posts. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for your efforts over the years, Dan ! You will be missed..
Dan, as a person who moved here four years ago, your work allowed me to learn a tremendous amount about the city I know live in and love. There have been times I have wowed a few people who have lived here much longer, and I have to say my “cheat sheet” has been this page. Thanks! Rest up and enjoy from our side!
Thank you for all of the great photos, and all of your good work!
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
Dan thanks so much! As a life long Portlander, here since 1961 I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful pictures you’ve brought to the site- and always such high res!
Gosh, what a yeoman’s job you’ve done. This has been my go-to site for historical Portland and I can never get enough of it. I’ve always hoped that when I retire I could dive through the CoP archives, so it’s excellent that the City itself will take on the task of making these old photos available online.
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.
Thanks for doing this for so long. Nice job.
you have given me so much delight it this wonderful blog. Thank you
Keep yer eyes on the skyline, nose in the wind.
I leave town for a few days, off line and out of contact with the modern world and come home to find my favorite morning web site is changing.
I hope they can keep this going as well as you did Dan, I know it was a lot of work to keep it going.
Thanks for all you did creating this site and entertaining us for a few years.
Thanks for all of the hard work Dan. That so many people have left so many nice comments speaks for itself. VP is one of only a few sites that I have bookmarked on my computer and I check it obsessively every day! See you in the comments section and thanks for leaving the site in good hands!
Enjoy your freedom Dan! I love VP and have long (mostly silently) enjoyed your great work. Good luck with your future endeavors!
Have a great retirement from VP. This site is awesome. Glad its going to stay alive. Take care of yourself.
As an occasional reader (when it shows in my news reader) let me say that VP has been very enjoyable.
I hope its new masters do at least as well.
Good luck Dan.
Thanks for all your hard work Dan. Checked VP every day.
Thank you for all the great work. As a 3rd generation Portlander I have really enjoyed the great photos and the history.
Dan,
I echo Kevin in thanking you for your dedication and stewardship of Vintage Portland. You’ve created a rich and engaging treasure for Rose City. Like the many commenters before me, I both trust and look forward to Vintage Portland. A handful of Vintage Portland photos have been directly connected with my work and family which has been exciting and deeply meaningful. Thanks also for finding a group that will continue sharing new old photos. Good luck with your new endeavor.
-Sam
Thank you Dan, as a life long resident of Portland I have found the page to be consistently interesting, edifying and, sometimes maddening (how could have they torn down….). You will be missed.
Thanks for adding the dimension of time to my appreciation for my adopted city.
Thank you so much for your dedication to this site. I’ve always looked forward to eachbnew post.
I wish you luck in all your new endeavorsi also look forward to the new changes coming.
Thank you
Thanks for all the great work. Wish you well.
The choice of photos you have presented here has been spectacular. PARC has some big shoes to fill to match the curation skills you’ve shown on this blog. Thank-you.
I’m sad.
Dan,
Thank you for all that you have done to promote Portland and educating us all about the history of Portland. You have created and managed a wonderful gift to the people of Portland and we are all proud of what you have accomplished. The City of Portland has a lot to live up too!
It’s been such a treat. Thank you, Dan.
Thanks for all you’ve done.
Thank you for all you’ve done and good luck with all your future endeavors.
I stumbled upon the Vintage Portland web site only about a year ago, when looking for old haunts of the past in and around the City of Portland and like so many others have found myself returning to the site each day to see what photo, neighborhood and buildings would be highlighted next. Growing-up in the Ladd Circle area in the 1960’s was great fun for me and all my friends at Abernathy Elementary School.
We had lots of fun just running around and goofing off from Mt. Tabor to the Willamette River, Burnside to Powell Park and beyond.
It takes a certain unique talent to hold together a Website like Vintage Portland and keep it interesting for such a lengthy amount of time and I am only hoping that the group individuals that inherit the site will be able to hold together the interest of the audience with the way they present and format the images of Portland’s past and present.
Like so many of the images that we are viewing, Dan Davis’s ambitions have become part of the history that is the Vintage Portland web site and with so much that only survives in the memories that we of us share I am sure his involvement and efforts will always be appreciated by all that enjoy this web site.
I would like to thank Dan Davis and everybody for all the blogs, map links and stories that have been presented over time and I looking forward to hearing more about what once was and what will never be again. – Thank you all.
Dan,
Thank you for creating such a great site! And the participation from the other folks makes this more than just an old photos site, it creates a history lesson that can’t be found anywhere else. I am so glad to hear that you have been able to pass it on rather than just ending the site.
Thanks Dan! Cheers
THANK YOU, Dan!
Thanks for the great work! I’ve really enjoyed dropping in. I especially loved the mystery pictures and the community you’ve built who’d solve the mysteries. 4 1/2 years is a long time to work on any project, and you deserve to relax. Thank you!!!
dang, I still keep checking every day because it’s such a habit. I can’t wait for the return! I hope they do as good of a job as you have!
You will be truly missed, thanks for all the hours and efforts researching and sharing history.
Thank you for all your efforts ofer the last 4 1/2 years Dan. I’m sure its probably taken a fair amount of time away from other things in your life you might have otherwise been doing. I also appreciate you posting up the uncovered photos of several contributors/posters on this site over the years. I hope to see that kind of personal dedication and contribution by PARC when they take over the posting. It’s been wonderful hearing peoples stories in relation to particular locations, and solving many historical ambiguities with fellow posters. I hope to see that continue.
Thank you for all your efforts. You have lifted my spirits countless times and tweaked my mind along the way in positive ways. Best wishes and good health.
Thanks for all you great work, Dan!
Thank you, sir!
Thanks Dan. You did a really wonderful thing with this site.
It’s obvious that you’ve impacted a lot of people with your postings. I’m thankful that you thought to turn it over to the city to continue your hard work.
Take care!
Brian
Thanks Dan for this wonderful blog about my long-ago hometown. I’ve looked for something similar about the city where I now live, but there’s nothing like it.