Ah, the Portland skyline I remember from my youth. Looks like a cold, crisp and clear winter day with Mt. Hood visible in the distance.
Classic shot, I assume from the Vista bridge? According to efiles this is a clear crispy December 6, a Tuesday. Some of you may be sitting or teaching in Lincoln High School during this shot–a friend of mine currently works in the new LHS, he’s sending me pics of the former school’s demolition as I type. I’m impressed at the prominence on the First Congregational Church’s spire–another dark spire, just right of the Jackson Tower, eludes me, apparently gone…anyone know what that was?
If you haven’t got your bearings yet, the smallest house in the bottom right, just above the large building with curved roof, is the Fehrenbacher Hof, a favorite coffee and breakfast shop, originally run by Sigrid Clark, beloved spouse of former Portland Mayor and pub owner Bud Clark. The Goose Hollow Pub won’t open until 1967, but the intersection just south of the Hof is SW 19th and Jefferson.
Interstate 405 won’t bisect this picture until the late 60’s, and I’m wondering, is there any chance the house or building that was The Gladstone, the boarding house operated by James Beard’s mother, still exists and is visible in this photo?
What is that large, long, rectangular building?
If you zoom in on the photo you can see the big KOIN radio neon sign (backwards) atop the Heathman Hotel. It’s visible just to the right of the Pacific Power building. Anybody remember their popular morning live radio show, KOIN Klock? Along with most of Portland, we listened to it every morning at breakfast.
The Public service building at one time had 4 signs on top of the building. Those signs were Gas Heat Power and Light. Those signs have been replaced with the Pacific Power signs shown in this photo.
I’ll answer one of my own questions; the steeple I couldn’t identify still stands and is at SW 12th and Salmon, part of the Eliot Center, the Unitarian Church complex.
Claudia: The long rectangular building is Lincoln High School. It would have been recently built in this photo. It is now recently demolished and replaced with a new multi-story building.
Thorn, that spire to the right of Jackson Tower might be the First Unitarian Church spire. And if it is, it’s still there today, on the corner of 12th & Salmon.
The small unusual house just south of Lincoln’s field survives, including its elegantly thin chimney, now boasting a top rated Thai place, Kinara, in converted garage add-ons. A cool stairway sneaks up to the duplex….
And two more signs to wonder about. On the left, a giant neon “Standard Insurance”–is that the prior location of the company headquarters? And, far right, just above what will be the Fehrenbacher Hof house, a sign says “Travel Oregon”, right near the trolley line too I think, which strikes me as odd, it can’t be our modern state tourism department can it?…any newspaper sleuths want to investigate what Travel Oregon was in 1960?
The First Congregational Church’s spire was more impressive then it is now. It lost a section during the Columbis Day Storm in 1962.
I see the Jackson Tower (1912) clock at 8:05 am. The Pacific Power building, of course. The First Baptist Church (1894) Romanesque Revival tower, the First Unitarian Church spire (1924), and finally, the First Congregational Church (1889-1895) spire in the Venetian Gothic style.
I’m not sure, but the building a the bottom may be The Portland Athletic Club and its parking lot?
Mt. Hood has quite a snow cap, so this photo may have been taken on a lovely morning in March or April.
Robin in 1960 the date of this photo “KOIN Klock” was on from 6am -7:15am with news and weather. I had never listened to this show , but here is a little history on this long running radio program from news stories when it ended in 1972.
Oregonian 8/19/72 excerpt — Red Dunning who recently retired from the orchestra joined the group in 1929 and helped start the live music show on KOIN Klock, which has continued since December 1930 and is the oldest continuous show on KOIN.
Oregon Journal 8/26/72 excerpt—KOIN Radio’s — “KOIN Klock” ended its 45 year history of live morning music Friday with a sentimental last performance. “It was just one of those things that had to be done” said KOIN program director Bill Baldwin.
I remember this part of town very well. I attended Lincoln HS from 1960-1964
I would hike up and over the west hills to. burnside on nice days. I lived in NW Portland back then. Thanks for the memories.
Thorn before Standard Insurance opened their new Standard Plaza building in 1963 the were located at 812 SW Washington and are shown as the building owner on permits from 1947 until 1965.
When I was a kid my Dad would point to a light atop a building (downtown) that if it was a certain color was supposed to be an indicator of what the weather was gonna do. Maybe Pacific power? Anyone know?
Thanks, Dennis! I certainly remember Red Dunning.
wploulorenziprince – I think that building at the bottom was a bowling alley. I know there was one in that area.
Funny. Standard Insurance. KOIN. The weather beacon, all intersect, and the original weather beacon is visible in today’s photo too! @DJ
can vouch for kinara thai!
this photo is a great example of what has been lost in portland: a distinct sense of place, connected to a regional environment experienced daily by all.
don’t get me wrong, progress is (usually) good, we need to build up to preserve the ugb, and we need more (affordable!) housing. but between the tower plopped in front of hood as seen from rose garden, the planned tower which will block hood from salmon springs, and tall buildings planned for this area that will obscure all but the very top of hood – not to mention a suicide fence on vista bridge that by council ruling was supposed to have been replaced well before now … which they have no serious plans about doing – we’ve decided that being able to see the things that helped make portland special are not important, and we are becoming burbank; an anywhere.
texas has stronger view-corridor protection laws. texas!
DJ– I should have included this with my last post, but here is the answer on the lighted ball atop building.
This glowing ball was on top of the new Standard Plaza building, and the colors indicated the following weather conditions
WHITE– Colder
GREEN– No change
RED– Warmer
FLASHING– Precipitation
STEADY– No precipitation
If viewed during the daylight hours those were the expected conditions for the balance of that day.
If viewed at night they indicated the conditions for the next day.
Thank you so much. Wow.
Regarding a different view, but whenever I went through the tunnel under the west hills on Hwy. 26 and came out to see Portland, and Mt. Hood SPLIT IN HALF BY THE KOIN TOWER, I wanted to run for mayor on the platform of blowing the KOIN tower up. Now it would be a moot point– too many other high buildings.
A bowling alley eh? Wow! thanks, ToeKnee.
wploulorenziprince: It was mentioned in 2012. Anyone know the name of the bowling alley?
Vintage Portland 
Ah, the Portland skyline I remember from my youth. Looks like a cold, crisp and clear winter day with Mt. Hood visible in the distance.
Classic shot, I assume from the Vista bridge? According to efiles this is a clear crispy December 6, a Tuesday. Some of you may be sitting or teaching in Lincoln High School during this shot–a friend of mine currently works in the new LHS, he’s sending me pics of the former school’s demolition as I type. I’m impressed at the prominence on the First Congregational Church’s spire–another dark spire, just right of the Jackson Tower, eludes me, apparently gone…anyone know what that was?
If you haven’t got your bearings yet, the smallest house in the bottom right, just above the large building with curved roof, is the Fehrenbacher Hof, a favorite coffee and breakfast shop, originally run by Sigrid Clark, beloved spouse of former Portland Mayor and pub owner Bud Clark. The Goose Hollow Pub won’t open until 1967, but the intersection just south of the Hof is SW 19th and Jefferson.
Interstate 405 won’t bisect this picture until the late 60’s, and I’m wondering, is there any chance the house or building that was The Gladstone, the boarding house operated by James Beard’s mother, still exists and is visible in this photo?
What is that large, long, rectangular building?
If you zoom in on the photo you can see the big KOIN radio neon sign (backwards) atop the Heathman Hotel. It’s visible just to the right of the Pacific Power building. Anybody remember their popular morning live radio show, KOIN Klock? Along with most of Portland, we listened to it every morning at breakfast.
The Public service building at one time had 4 signs on top of the building. Those signs were Gas Heat Power and Light. Those signs have been replaced with the Pacific Power signs shown in this photo.
I’ll answer one of my own questions; the steeple I couldn’t identify still stands and is at SW 12th and Salmon, part of the Eliot Center, the Unitarian Church complex.
Claudia: The long rectangular building is Lincoln High School. It would have been recently built in this photo. It is now recently demolished and replaced with a new multi-story building.
Thorn, that spire to the right of Jackson Tower might be the First Unitarian Church spire. And if it is, it’s still there today, on the corner of 12th & Salmon.
The small unusual house just south of Lincoln’s field survives, including its elegantly thin chimney, now boasting a top rated Thai place, Kinara, in converted garage add-ons. A cool stairway sneaks up to the duplex….
And two more signs to wonder about. On the left, a giant neon “Standard Insurance”–is that the prior location of the company headquarters? And, far right, just above what will be the Fehrenbacher Hof house, a sign says “Travel Oregon”, right near the trolley line too I think, which strikes me as odd, it can’t be our modern state tourism department can it?…any newspaper sleuths want to investigate what Travel Oregon was in 1960?
The First Congregational Church’s spire was more impressive then it is now. It lost a section during the Columbis Day Storm in 1962.
I see the Jackson Tower (1912) clock at 8:05 am. The Pacific Power building, of course. The First Baptist Church (1894) Romanesque Revival tower, the First Unitarian Church spire (1924), and finally, the First Congregational Church (1889-1895) spire in the Venetian Gothic style.
I’m not sure, but the building a the bottom may be The Portland Athletic Club and its parking lot?
Mt. Hood has quite a snow cap, so this photo may have been taken on a lovely morning in March or April.
Robin in 1960 the date of this photo “KOIN Klock” was on from 6am -7:15am with news and weather. I had never listened to this show , but here is a little history on this long running radio program from news stories when it ended in 1972.
Oregonian 8/19/72 excerpt — Red Dunning who recently retired from the orchestra joined the group in 1929 and helped start the live music show on KOIN Klock, which has continued since December 1930 and is the oldest continuous show on KOIN.
Oregon Journal 8/26/72 excerpt—KOIN Radio’s — “KOIN Klock” ended its 45 year history of live morning music Friday with a sentimental last performance. “It was just one of those things that had to be done” said KOIN program director Bill Baldwin.
I remember this part of town very well. I attended Lincoln HS from 1960-1964
I would hike up and over the west hills to. burnside on nice days. I lived in NW Portland back then. Thanks for the memories.
Thorn before Standard Insurance opened their new Standard Plaza building in 1963 the were located at 812 SW Washington and are shown as the building owner on permits from 1947 until 1965.
When I was a kid my Dad would point to a light atop a building (downtown) that if it was a certain color was supposed to be an indicator of what the weather was gonna do. Maybe Pacific power? Anyone know?
Thanks, Dennis! I certainly remember Red Dunning.
wploulorenziprince – I think that building at the bottom was a bowling alley. I know there was one in that area.
Funny. Standard Insurance. KOIN. The weather beacon, all intersect, and the original weather beacon is visible in today’s photo too! @DJ
https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/where-we-live-portlands-faithful-weather-beacon/
can vouch for kinara thai!
this photo is a great example of what has been lost in portland: a distinct sense of place, connected to a regional environment experienced daily by all.
don’t get me wrong, progress is (usually) good, we need to build up to preserve the ugb, and we need more (affordable!) housing. but between the tower plopped in front of hood as seen from rose garden, the planned tower which will block hood from salmon springs, and tall buildings planned for this area that will obscure all but the very top of hood – not to mention a suicide fence on vista bridge that by council ruling was supposed to have been replaced well before now … which they have no serious plans about doing – we’ve decided that being able to see the things that helped make portland special are not important, and we are becoming burbank; an anywhere.
texas has stronger view-corridor protection laws. texas!
Still there DJ Its on top of the Standard Insurance building https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/where-we-live-portlands-faithful-weather-beacon/#:~:text=On%20the%20roof%20of%20the,that%20convey%20basic%20forecast%20information.&text=If%20the%20beacon%20is%20red,in%20the%20next%2024%20hours.
DJ– I should have included this with my last post, but here is the answer on the lighted ball atop building.
This glowing ball was on top of the new Standard Plaza building, and the colors indicated the following weather conditions
WHITE– Colder
GREEN– No change
RED– Warmer
FLASHING– Precipitation
STEADY– No precipitation
If viewed during the daylight hours those were the expected conditions for the balance of that day.
If viewed at night they indicated the conditions for the next day.
Thank you so much. Wow.
Regarding a different view, but whenever I went through the tunnel under the west hills on Hwy. 26 and came out to see Portland, and Mt. Hood SPLIT IN HALF BY THE KOIN TOWER, I wanted to run for mayor on the platform of blowing the KOIN tower up. Now it would be a moot point– too many other high buildings.
A bowling alley eh? Wow! thanks, ToeKnee.
wploulorenziprince: It was mentioned in 2012. Anyone know the name of the bowling alley?