Water main break at NE 70th Avenue and NE Prescott Street, 1962.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, Main break at NE 70th and Prescott children gather near road work, A2012-005, 1962.
NE 70th Avenue, 1962
Vintage Portland
Water main break at NE 70th Avenue and NE Prescott Street, 1962.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, Main break at NE 70th and Prescott children gather near road work, A2012-005, 1962.
Vintage Portland 
Looks like it would be Bretz cobbles and gravel for that upland location. Either deposited naturally and/or carted a half mile from Gravel Hill (now Alameda Ridge).
I wonder if this was taken on a school day and these kids were already at the corner to catch a school bus or if this was on a weekend. These kids were my contemporaries, I would have been 8, almost 9.
Looks like this was taken a day or two into the repair project, but I have no idea. The workers are into their work and they appear to be most tolerant of the boys watching them.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5554219,-122.5912119,3a,75y,200.65h,87.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sn2E0Bn_V070p0oXXrD-KtA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Trees grew up nicely
Cody: you nailed the location. On current street view you provided, go up the street 2 houses on the right and you’ll see that unique garage door with a kid playing at the basketball hoop. Definitely the same house. Nice work.
There is a reverse view of this repair project posted on 1/26/2016. There were a lot of kids giving their full attention to men working to repair the broken water main.
I lived on 69th just south of Prescott for 48 years beginning in 1966. At that time, Portland Public Schools was not running school buses. I think the boys watching the workers would be just leaving Harvey Scott grade school in the afternoon , which is on 68th and Prescott.
The young lad in the hooded sweatshirt, turned cuff jeans and loafers with white socks is n both images (1/26/2016 per LMH), as is the young lady standing next to him in the current image.
Great picture.
Back when shovels could be ordered with high neck or any other configuration to help efficiency.
So you’re telling me, those round rocks were put there by the Missoula Floods–makes perfect sense. That event always boggles my comparatively infinitesimal mind. Thank you for that insight Dominic.
I see at least two young ladies, a photobomb pioneer, and several smiles. Looks like a fine moment in a gosh darn swell day in 62′. Maybe Glenn was mid orbit. Maybe Marylin had just sung Happy Birthday. Maybe the Cuban Missile Crisis and Columbus Day storm are weeks away. Maybe Love Me Do is playing on a kid’s transistor radio.
I used to live on Prescott. At 42nd.
An accident with city liability waiting to happen. And hope that it never did. Today that site would be taped or fenced off.
I thought this looked familiar.
Rocks are natural. Used to live in that general area. When they put the sewers in around 1990 some of the rocks/boulders they took out of my yard had to be put on a flatbed truck because they were too big to fit through the gate on the dump trucks.
well that was a wash !