Velte’s Home Furnishing on the corner of SW 1st Avenue and SW Ash Street, circa 1969.
City of Portland Archives, Oregon, Velte’s Home Furnishing on the corner of SW 1st Avenue and SW Ash Street, A2011-028, circa 1969.
SW 1st Avenue, circa 1969
Vintage Portland
Vintage Portland 
This is a great photo of the South Wing of the New Market Block. According to William J. Hawkins, III’s wonderful book, “The Grand Era of Cast Iron Architecture in Portland, the South Wing was the first building of the complex. Construction started in 1871 and was completed in 1872.
Construction on the nearby The New Market Theater commenced in 1872 and was completed the same year. The less elaborate small building connecting the South Wing to the theater/market building was originally a passageway between the two buildings and was first used as a meeting place for the Chamber of Commerce.
The final sections of the New Market Block were the North Wing, constructed in 1879 and the New Market Annex, constructed in 1889. All of the buildings with the exception of the North Wing survive.
Fortunately, the ground floor colonnade of the North Wing was preserved. There is now a proposal to create a new four story North Wing that is evocative of the original structure and that preserves the colonnade.
http://www.nextportland.com/2016/02/11/new-market-theater-north-wing/
Nice ’64 Galaxie up front and center.
speaking of iron columns – there are a bunch of them stored by the east bank fire station. i assume the city owns them, but does any one know what buildings they are from?
No
It’s remarkable to me that everything in this picture is still standing.
What splendidly large plate glass windows!
The weathered sign painted on the brick of the adjacent building notes that the Crane Company was removed to 14th and Irving some number of years before 1969. A quick Google Map search indicates the company is still there. Can anyone tell me whether the weathered brick signage is still visible (trees block the Google Maps view)?
Dave R.
The street view from March shows that some of the signage is still visible.
https://goo.gl/maps/JX7bgRGJmM22
In my opinion this is one of the most beautiful remaining cast iron buildings standing in Portland. As noted above the windows are incredible and illuminate the spaces deep into the interior. It looks to me like it was an addition to a very small building sharing the south wall of the New Market Theater. Note the difference in window style. There was a penthouse addition added in the late 1980’s which works well with the design.
Jim or Dave R — could you tell us how you got two different seasons in the “current view?” That is, the one Dave R. found has trees-with-leaves, and Jim’s is a view with bare trees.. I’d like to know how you were able to arrive at the two different views, and how Jim knew the one was from March.
liz, google street view has a feature that allows you to view all the different times their cars have driven by that spot – you ‘slide’ the
little knob along a track with the different dates listed. upper left corner, if i remember correctly.
the new maket theater building 1872 is my favorite in the whole city !!