Aerial of the west end of the Ross Island Bridge, 1935.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, A2005-005.1482.4.
Ross Island Bridge, 1935
Vintage Portland
Aerial of the west end of the Ross Island Bridge, 1935.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, A2005-005.1482.4.
Vintage Portland 
What a strange looking intersection !
Haven’t seen quite enough Ross Island Bridge pictures. Could we get a bunch more please?
I’m like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory. Was that sarcasm?
From the air, you can really get a sense of just how nutty traffic flow patterns can become when road developments of this magnitude, intrude up already developed residential neighborhoods. Some homes south (right) of the bridge were lucky enough to be spared demolition in this phase of the project but, many more seen here would be razzed in future phases.
This photo also answers an earlier question I’d asked concerning what happened to all the debris created from all the homes that were demolished for this project. It was all just gathered together and partially covered over in a very haphazard manner; and besides, it creates a great foundation for billboard advertisements near the roadway.
That’s a good shot of the plinth / statue thing there in the middle of the intersection. With all of the research on the construction of the bridge ramps is there a close-up photo of that thing that could be posted on this site?
good photo showing the transition from South Portland, city dump, to Ross Island modernization. Failing School to left.
Fun to see the streetcar going down the sloped street, and what looks like a pedestrian taking the beaten path across the block. Lots of pedestrian shortcuts in the photo.
This is roughly the view today: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4998254,-122.6795109,248a,35y,75.8h,47.7t/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
You can see the naturopathic college to the far left, the H-shaped building in the otherwise empty lot and then follow the streets from there.
Didn’t take long ( 5 years) for the blowby via the engine draft tube to stain the concrete roadway as shown by the dark lines. Today we don’t have this due to engine emission controls, the draft tube was the first things to be eliminated..
Mike the best view of this traffic island / monument was last posted here on January 28, 2020. The Oregonian on December 22, 1926 (pages 1 & 4) covered the opening of the bridge on the 21st that started with a parade from downtown to the West approach, and over to the East approach where a reviewing stand was setup. After several speakers 7 year old Rosina Corbett christened the bridge by breaking a bottle of Bull Run water on a bridge pillar, and a plaque was dedicated to Sherry Ross the original owner of Ross Island. If you Google “Sherry Ross Plaque” you can view it.
Since this was dedicated during prohibition it had to be water and not champagne.
No bashing Ross Is. Br. pictures! They are all great! How can you slag such a fantastic photo with so much wonderful detail? Are those old Red Electric box motors and passenger cars sitting on the siding? The SP tracks would have been all freight at this date, but there are definitely a bunch of passenger cars sitting there. Rail buffs?
p.s. Do I see a lone horse standing in the swale that is now the bridge on-ramp from northbound 99W?
p.p.s. I will assume that’s not really the mayor offering such unproductive commentary!!
Looks like a vegetable garden just south and east of the streetcar.
I’m guessing, using this map, that the trolley is on Front heading to make a left at Gibbs.
The L-shaped church building in the lower right appears to have been the 4th Presbyterian Church & Library at what is now SW First Avenue and SW Gibbs Street, with the church facing First and the Library facing Gibbs.
Sanborn Map – https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4294pm.g4294pm_g07439195002/?sp=70&r=0.626,0.385,0.27,0.115,0