Really amazing to see it way back then, thank you for this post & Cheers!
Is that a fountain from one of the Mt. Tabor reservoirs in the distance?
Great post today.
Meier & Frank signage can be seen to give some perspective.
Hi,
I’m enjoying all the little details, such as Russell & Co. & Buffalo Pitts signs on Eastbank buildings!
There is a church popping up on the east side, left, which I think could be Centenary Wilbur Methodist.
Plus great views of the usual suspects, downtown buildings like Art Museum (orig. Broadway & Stark), the High School, Chamber Of Commerce Bldg., Marquam Grand, Portland Hotel, et al
Sincerely, Billy
I wonder if house with fabulous roof in right foreground is still there so we can pin down locations where photo was taken.
that’s an odd-looking cloud formation on hood… did william steele set it ablaze?
…no, his fireworks display was a decade earlier. but it is still a weird cloud.
and i believe this is from what was then city park – didn’t we identify that house as being a groundskeeper’s?
Wonderful panorama and surprisingly sharpe details of the city skyline and lanscape.
Perhaps it was taken in Febrauray or March when trees were beginning to leaf out.
Portland was as so beautiful in this era, with the lovely homes, and architecture of larger buildings.
Using Google Earth and drawing a line from Mt. Hood to just south of Portland High School (SW 14th and Morrison) it looks like the photo was shot from somewhere near Reservoir #3 or #4 which had been recently completed (1894). The house at the lower right could be 2377 SW Market St. Dr. (also 1894).
is the turret at left the david t. honeyman house on sw king? it was somewhere around where sw taylor meets sw king today. that puts the viewer in city park.
and i assume the large structure lurking at extreme left is the exhibition building on b. street (burnside)? or perhaps the fatstock stables on salmon…
It’s wonderful to see this photo, especially since I’ve never seen it before. Mike (above) asked if the fountain in the distance is one of the Mount Tabor reservoirs. I’m betting it’s Reservoir 2, which would have been operating in 1897. It was at SE 60th and Division, and was put out of commission in the 1980s, I think. The area is now occupied by a rest home. This photo would have been about a decade before the city started to add Reservoirs 5 and 6. No. 6 also had a big fountain like the one in the photo. The other thing I love about this photo is that it provides a great view of The Oregonian building (almost dead center), the Marquam Building (just right of The Oregonian, and which literally began to crumble a few years later because of shoddy construction) and the gorgeous old Portland HIgh School (just left of The Oregonian), which would have been about 10 years old at the time.
Great photo. Love seeing the Meier and Frank signage as mentioned above.
Also “Russell & Co.” were suppliers of saw mill equipment and were located at 160/168 Front street under the old address system.
How was the roof on the lower-right house constructed? It is the most amazingly beautiful roof I’ve ever seen! I know many of the downtown building facades were cast iron, but I can’t imagine a roof being cast.
Donna Kurszewski,
I suspect that the beautiful roof was made from sawed cedar shingles with the individual shingles cut at the job site to make that pattern. Skilled craftsmen were much cheaper to hire in those days.
John Killen & Dave, ref Fountain in res #2
The photo is dated 1897 and res #6 was completed around 1905,however errors do happen. Checking the hills and trees I believe the fountain is in the south 1/2 of res. #6 and the round structure to the north is the pump house at Res. #5.
I assume the Meier & Frank sign is on the building they occupied on Taylor between 1st and 2nd. They started their five story building on Fifth between Alder and Morrison after 1898. Later they built a ten story addition on 6th and Alder, then replaced the five story building with a 12 story building and in the early 1930s finished the block at 6th and Morrison. When The Nines went in, they added two floors to the ten story building at 6th and Alder. What an amazing history. I miss Meier & Frank.
@ Drew…that is their 5th ave location, 1898 was the move in year not the date of construction. They would have been putting the finishing touches on the building at this point.
The high school isnt Lincoln its old Portland High School
Vintage Portland 
Really amazing to see it way back then, thank you for this post & Cheers!
Is that a fountain from one of the Mt. Tabor reservoirs in the distance?
Great post today.
Meier & Frank signage can be seen to give some perspective.
Hi,
I’m enjoying all the little details, such as Russell & Co. & Buffalo Pitts signs on Eastbank buildings!
There is a church popping up on the east side, left, which I think could be Centenary Wilbur Methodist.
Plus great views of the usual suspects, downtown buildings like Art Museum (orig. Broadway & Stark), the High School, Chamber Of Commerce Bldg., Marquam Grand, Portland Hotel, et al
Sincerely, Billy
I wonder if house with fabulous roof in right foreground is still there so we can pin down locations where photo was taken.
that’s an odd-looking cloud formation on hood… did william steele set it ablaze?
…no, his fireworks display was a decade earlier. but it is still a weird cloud.
and i believe this is from what was then city park – didn’t we identify that house as being a groundskeeper’s?
Wonderful panorama and surprisingly sharpe details of the city skyline and lanscape.
Perhaps it was taken in Febrauray or March when trees were beginning to leaf out.
Portland was as so beautiful in this era, with the lovely homes, and architecture of larger buildings.
Using Google Earth and drawing a line from Mt. Hood to just south of Portland High School (SW 14th and Morrison) it looks like the photo was shot from somewhere near Reservoir #3 or #4 which had been recently completed (1894). The house at the lower right could be 2377 SW Market St. Dr. (also 1894).
is the turret at left the david t. honeyman house on sw king? it was somewhere around where sw taylor meets sw king today. that puts the viewer in city park.
and i assume the large structure lurking at extreme left is the exhibition building on b. street (burnside)? or perhaps the fatstock stables on salmon…
It’s wonderful to see this photo, especially since I’ve never seen it before. Mike (above) asked if the fountain in the distance is one of the Mount Tabor reservoirs. I’m betting it’s Reservoir 2, which would have been operating in 1897. It was at SE 60th and Division, and was put out of commission in the 1980s, I think. The area is now occupied by a rest home. This photo would have been about a decade before the city started to add Reservoirs 5 and 6. No. 6 also had a big fountain like the one in the photo. The other thing I love about this photo is that it provides a great view of The Oregonian building (almost dead center), the Marquam Building (just right of The Oregonian, and which literally began to crumble a few years later because of shoddy construction) and the gorgeous old Portland HIgh School (just left of The Oregonian), which would have been about 10 years old at the time.
Great photo. Love seeing the Meier and Frank signage as mentioned above.
Also “Russell & Co.” were suppliers of saw mill equipment and were located at 160/168 Front street under the old address system.
How was the roof on the lower-right house constructed? It is the most amazingly beautiful roof I’ve ever seen! I know many of the downtown building facades were cast iron, but I can’t imagine a roof being cast.
Donna Kurszewski,
I suspect that the beautiful roof was made from sawed cedar shingles with the individual shingles cut at the job site to make that pattern. Skilled craftsmen were much cheaper to hire in those days.
John Killen & Dave, ref Fountain in res #2
The photo is dated 1897 and res #6 was completed around 1905,however errors do happen. Checking the hills and trees I believe the fountain is in the south 1/2 of res. #6 and the round structure to the north is the pump house at Res. #5.
I assume the Meier & Frank sign is on the building they occupied on Taylor between 1st and 2nd. They started their five story building on Fifth between Alder and Morrison after 1898. Later they built a ten story addition on 6th and Alder, then replaced the five story building with a 12 story building and in the early 1930s finished the block at 6th and Morrison. When The Nines went in, they added two floors to the ten story building at 6th and Alder. What an amazing history. I miss Meier & Frank.
@ Drew…that is their 5th ave location, 1898 was the move in year not the date of construction. They would have been putting the finishing touches on the building at this point.
The high school isnt Lincoln its old Portland High School
Thanks, Dan!