Does anyone recognize the location of this streetcar?
City of Portland (OR) Archives, Streetcar in downtown Portland, A2007-002, circa 1920.
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Vintage Portland
Does anyone recognize the location of this streetcar?
City of Portland (OR) Archives, Streetcar in downtown Portland, A2007-002, circa 1920.
Vintage Portland 
Well I believe that is the Westover Street car line so that’s one clue.
You would think it would be pretty easy to search the Multnomah County Library Oregonian archives for Falts Bar but the new database they have does not work well because you keep getting hits for Falls and felt. The other database they had before worked much better.
You can see one of the great light way arches in the background so SW 3rd somewhere.
Mike — I found two listings for James E. Falt, one on May 11, 1929 (arrested for selling liquor by the drink in a downtown hotel) and one in 1931 (in a mortuary list of those cremated). He’s probably connected to that bar.
Is the sign over the streetcar for Ben Selling’s store?
Dr. Paul C. Yates had his offices at 291 1/2 Morrison Street.
Morrison & 2nd?
Ben Selling had a clothing store at SW 4th and Morrison
Morrison, Downtown? On the far right the bldg. corner plaque says 1at National Bank. This looks to be older than 1920. Maybe not.
From the Oregonian 9/21/14 there is a ad for ” Falt’s Crawfish ” with a address of 293 Morrison, but the street number would be from the old Portland numbering system.
I believe it’s Morrison St. facing east, in the block between Fourth and Fifth. According to the records of the Morning Oregonian, the clothier Ben Selling was located at the corner of Fourth and Morrison, and if you look directly above the streetcar you can see the sign for “Ben Selling.”
Is the curved structure in the background, just to the left go the streetcar, part of the 3rd Street “Great Light Way”? If so, that would place the date after mid-1914.
I believe that it is Washington street as you can see the old Greek Restaurant building on the upper left corner, the bank building on the lower right there and across the street from there next to the parking lot that was built in the 1960’s the 3rd street building. Use to deliver to all these locations. I believe that the bank’s address was 319 SW Washington. Upper right side building use to house Nudelman’s and then Portland luggage.
Sorry, Fifth and Morrison facing east.
There’s an ad in the December 21, 1914 Morning Oregonian for the First National Bank at Fifth and Morrison.
So this block? Seems a lot narrower than it did in 1914
The size difference in the photos could be due to different focal lengths of the camera lenses.
Date-wise women’s skirts began to rise in ~1915 from ankle to mid-calf. The ones I can see in the photo look mostly ankle-length. I would put the date between mid 1914 to 1916.
Another VP shot of Morrison from 1st looking west in 1900.
I agree this appears to be the 5th & Washington. My earlier post indicate Falt’s Crawfish was at 293 Morrison. Additional information from Oregon Secretary of State indicates J.E. Falt & Louis Neischl trade marked “Portland Crawfish Co.” in 1916. Then from the Oregonian 11/29/18 there is a small ad that reads “Auction sale today contents of Portland Crawfish Co. 293 Morrison st. at the corner of 5th.”
From my last post I intended to type 5th & Morrison, not Washington. Sorry
Sorry, it’s Morrison NOT Washington. Ben Seller clothier at Fourth and Morrison,the First National Bank at Fifth and Morrison, and the streetcar sign reads Morrison.
The Lion Clothing Company and Fourth and Morrison carried Ralston Shoes. There’s a sign visible just about the streetcar.
Sorry, let me try that again. The Lion Clothing Company at Fourth and Morrison carried Ralston Shoes. The sign is visible just above the streetcar.
The car in the background on left appears to be an electric model (1914) similar to one shown on this site.
http://www.american-automobiles.com/Electric-Cars/Ideal-Electric.html
Oddly, the City Auditor’s “Street Renumbering Report” has no 293 Morrison, although I’ve found a number of Oregonian citations for it, as have some of the rest of you. The oldest I’ve seen is dated 1892: “The Popular, a new restaurant just opened at 293 Morrison street, near Fifth, will make a specialty of delicious coffee, cold roast and fine salads, prepared in first-class style.” There are 292 and 294-295 Morrison addresses in the City Auditor report, which translate into 430 and 436 SW Morrison.
What happened to that great website — I think it was called LovejoyPettygrove, that translated the old addresses into the new?
What’s the fancy looking gothic building to the left of the streetcar in the next block, the one with the “xxxfield” sign on the roof?
Regarding Falt’s Bar”, remember prohibition began in Oregon in 1916. Were bars and saloons still (no pun intended) operating after Jan. 1, 1916?
LovejoyPettygrove is now pastportland.com
@Robin… Before prohibition in 1916 would fit with with my estimate of around 1915 based on presence of “Great Light Way” structure (opened June, 1914) and skirt lengths starting to rise during the Great War.
That appears to be the Corbett Building on the right, leading credence to the Fifth and Morrison address.
https://www.oldoregonphotos.com/corbett-building-5th-and-morrison-portland-looking-south-1928.html
Jim your link to the Corbett Building at SW 5th & Morrison from 1928 helps to confirm the location. The VP photo shows 3 street lamps in front of the Corbett Building with round globes, that match the 1928 photo. As a side note how many people remember that the Corbett Building was brought down by implosion on Sunday 5/1/88 to make way for Pioneer Place development, and you can see it on YouTube.
Yep, looks like 5th and Morrison, with the photo looking eastward down Morrison. You can see another shot with the same buildings on the left here: https://flic.kr/p/ddTSda
Look at the roll sign. The streetcar is on the Depot and Morrison line. The W on the dash sign is for Willamette Heights. Dept and Morrison cars ran from Union Depot to Southwest Morrison Street, then followed a stair-stepping route to Northwest Twenty-seventh and Thurman Streets
love the cast iron buildings ever where not as many today that stinks !!
Could very well be 5th and Morrison. At the top left you can just see a sign for Dr. Paul C Yates. I googled it and found this: https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1915-01-13/ed-1/seq-9/
There is an ad for a Dr. Paul C. Yates at 5th and Morrison, opposite the post office.