There is a very interesting set of comments about this bridge in the 1915 “related” post (link above) to the bridge. I’m struck by how many commenters names aren’t among those of us who are “regulars” on VP these days. They had pretty valuable input; hope some of ’em come back!
I’ve come back to comment on those really high curbs and the number of people who look to be marching in a real hurry!
This is such a great picture. I grew up in Burlingame, up on the hill behind where this was taken. Looking north as the picture shows would be where it intersects with Barbur Blvd. I walked across this bridge every day to Wilson High.
Oregonian October 27, 1948 page 12
Bridge Open After Repairs
The Burlingame bridge closed four months ago for an $85,000 repair job was reopened Tuesday to give residents of Carson Heights, South Burlingame and Fulton Park once again a direct route to Portland. W.T. Sherman president of Burlingame_Fulton Park community club, and William A. Bowes city commissioner of public works removed the barriers in a morning ceremony at the SW Barbur Blvd. end of the bridge. The bridge was strengthened, it’s roadway widened and a pedestrian walk installed during the repair period.
A news story on this bridge from October 24th indicated that when this bridge was first built steel from the Ford Street bridge which was replaced by the Vista bridge was used .
I remember this bridge in the 1950s. Isn’t this near the Burlingame Fred Meyer along Barbur Blvd. and the Burger King high school hangout? I also went to Wilson High.
The large line of folks standing at the roadside, appear to be waiting for a bus or something to pick them up and take them somewhere. They are all dressed up with heavy coats like they will be out after dark when it will be colder and they are ready for it.
The three men nearest the camera are walking across the bridge. The middle-aged guy in the fedora looks like he’s feeling the cold more so than the younger guys around him with his hands buried deeply in his front pants pockets; one wearing a sailor’s cap and another (behind) wearing what looks to be a Naval officers cap. The sailor looks a little cool with only one hand in his pocket and the other hand out with his eyes fixed firmly ahead as he enjoys a smoke in the cool early evening air.
The mothers that are part of the waiting group are holding their children (all girls) firmly by the hand. The composition of this waiting group is a mixture of ages. The only men I see are down the line in the background, with one fellow being quite tall.
The three men seated in the front seat of the new Packard Super 8 appear like they are dressed up too. The guy in the passenger seat is talking with the driver and the fellow in the center isn’t saying much.
Hi Uploulorenziprince. They’re bundled up because it’s cold and wet as they wait for the bus. It may be a Friday in late October, 1948, and the “housewives” (dare I use that term anymore), are headed downtown on the bus to Meier & Frank’s weekly big SALE, advertised as “Friday Surprise.” That’s when all the women, many of them “stay-at-home moms” would go downtown to shop, often accompanied by their pre-school, wiggle-worm kiddos (I was one of ’em). This scene is sooo familiar from my childhood. How I remember being drug from one store to another in the cold and rain, stores smelling of wet wool coats and sweaters once you got inside. Ah, those were the days! Great photo, Vintage Portland. Thanks!
Correction to my first sentence above: There is a very interesting set of comments about this bridge in the 2015 “related” post (link above) to the bridge.
It would have been quite the trick for VP to post something in 1915!! (:
It would be interesting to see what was under the bridge without I-5 rolling along as it is today. Maybe something similar to Sullivan’s Gulch before I 84 was built in NE Portland?
Mostly I remember that bridge by having to go south on it and do a u-turn in a wide spot south of the bridge to be able to access I-5 north ramp.
Bill, it was sort of like Sullivan’s Gulch, except more hilly. I think at some earlier time a streetcar line or railroad ran out there through Burlingame. A little farther up the gulch or canyon, near S.W. 35th & Barbur, it actually widened out enough to accommodate the Barbur Blvd. Drive-In Theater, which opened in 1950 and closed several years later. Many neighborhood families saw movies there. What I recall are the free pony rides for kids.! Lotsa fun!
Burlingame fredmyer any one ?
My grandparents lived on Viewpoint Terrace and Grandpa regularly took us on hikes in the “ravine.” It extended all the way up from the back of Riverview cemetery to the base of this bridge, and maybe even further south than that. Trails extended in all directions including one that came up to the playground at Fulton Park School – where the infamous Terwilliger curves are now.
Vintage Portland 
There is a very interesting set of comments about this bridge in the 1915 “related” post (link above) to the bridge. I’m struck by how many commenters names aren’t among those of us who are “regulars” on VP these days. They had pretty valuable input; hope some of ’em come back!
I’ve come back to comment on those really high curbs and the number of people who look to be marching in a real hurry!
This is such a great picture. I grew up in Burlingame, up on the hill behind where this was taken. Looking north as the picture shows would be where it intersects with Barbur Blvd. I walked across this bridge every day to Wilson High.
Oregonian October 27, 1948 page 12
Bridge Open After Repairs
The Burlingame bridge closed four months ago for an $85,000 repair job was reopened Tuesday to give residents of Carson Heights, South Burlingame and Fulton Park once again a direct route to Portland. W.T. Sherman president of Burlingame_Fulton Park community club, and William A. Bowes city commissioner of public works removed the barriers in a morning ceremony at the SW Barbur Blvd. end of the bridge. The bridge was strengthened, it’s roadway widened and a pedestrian walk installed during the repair period.
A news story on this bridge from October 24th indicated that when this bridge was first built steel from the Ford Street bridge which was replaced by the Vista bridge was used .
I remember this bridge in the 1950s. Isn’t this near the Burlingame Fred Meyer along Barbur Blvd. and the Burger King high school hangout? I also went to Wilson High.
The large line of folks standing at the roadside, appear to be waiting for a bus or something to pick them up and take them somewhere. They are all dressed up with heavy coats like they will be out after dark when it will be colder and they are ready for it.
The three men nearest the camera are walking across the bridge. The middle-aged guy in the fedora looks like he’s feeling the cold more so than the younger guys around him with his hands buried deeply in his front pants pockets; one wearing a sailor’s cap and another (behind) wearing what looks to be a Naval officers cap. The sailor looks a little cool with only one hand in his pocket and the other hand out with his eyes fixed firmly ahead as he enjoys a smoke in the cool early evening air.
The mothers that are part of the waiting group are holding their children (all girls) firmly by the hand. The composition of this waiting group is a mixture of ages. The only men I see are down the line in the background, with one fellow being quite tall.
The three men seated in the front seat of the new Packard Super 8 appear like they are dressed up too. The guy in the passenger seat is talking with the driver and the fellow in the center isn’t saying much.
Hi Uploulorenziprince. They’re bundled up because it’s cold and wet as they wait for the bus. It may be a Friday in late October, 1948, and the “housewives” (dare I use that term anymore), are headed downtown on the bus to Meier & Frank’s weekly big SALE, advertised as “Friday Surprise.” That’s when all the women, many of them “stay-at-home moms” would go downtown to shop, often accompanied by their pre-school, wiggle-worm kiddos (I was one of ’em). This scene is sooo familiar from my childhood. How I remember being drug from one store to another in the cold and rain, stores smelling of wet wool coats and sweaters once you got inside. Ah, those were the days! Great photo, Vintage Portland. Thanks!
Correction to my first sentence above: There is a very interesting set of comments about this bridge in the 2015 “related” post (link above) to the bridge.
It would have been quite the trick for VP to post something in 1915!! (:
It would be interesting to see what was under the bridge without I-5 rolling along as it is today. Maybe something similar to Sullivan’s Gulch before I 84 was built in NE Portland?
Mostly I remember that bridge by having to go south on it and do a u-turn in a wide spot south of the bridge to be able to access I-5 north ramp.
Bill, it was sort of like Sullivan’s Gulch, except more hilly. I think at some earlier time a streetcar line or railroad ran out there through Burlingame. A little farther up the gulch or canyon, near S.W. 35th & Barbur, it actually widened out enough to accommodate the Barbur Blvd. Drive-In Theater, which opened in 1950 and closed several years later. Many neighborhood families saw movies there. What I recall are the free pony rides for kids.! Lotsa fun!
Burlingame fredmyer any one ?
My grandparents lived on Viewpoint Terrace and Grandpa regularly took us on hikes in the “ravine.” It extended all the way up from the back of Riverview cemetery to the base of this bridge, and maybe even further south than that. Trails extended in all directions including one that came up to the playground at Fulton Park School – where the infamous Terwilliger curves are now.