Dave Knows Portland

July 29, 1966: Pacific Coast Route Completed With Opening of Astoria-Megler Bridge

by Leave a Comment

Astoria-Megler Bridge . . . with rainbow!Following the end of the 45 year old ferry service between Astoria, Oregon and Megler, Washington, the Astoria-Megler Bridge opened to automobile traffic on July 29, 1966, a month before the official dedication (The Oregonian, 30-July-1966).

First across was an Astoria resident, Victor Watson, who paid toll of $1.50 “just for the ride.”

The bridge was built to withstand 150 miles per hour winds, and river flood speeds of 9 miles per hour. The main span’s 1,232 foot continuous truss is the longest in the country. The bridge was a toll bridge until December 24, 1993, when the construction bonds were paid off – two years early.

July 17, 1926: Hollywood Theatre Grand Opening

by Leave a Comment

Advertisement for Grand Opening of the Hollywood Theater (Morning Oregonian, 17-July-1926)Northeast Portland’s Hollywood Theatre opened with great fanfare on Saturday, July 17, 1926 (Morning Oregonian, 17-July-1926). The last venue built for both vaudeville acts and movies in Portland, the silent film More Pay-Less Work was shown on opening day, with eight piece orchestra and $40,000 Wurlitzer accompaniment.

Standing stately in a Byzantine way at the corner of NE Broadway and Sandy in the Hollywood Neighborhood (which took its name from the theater), the Hollywood Theatre today is run as a not-for-profit organization with a mission to entertain, inspire, educate and connect the community through the art of film while preserving a historic Portland landmark.

Further reading

Tour De Coops (16-July-2011)

by 1 Comment

Tour de Coops 2011Growing Garden‘s 8th annual Tour De Coops takes place Saturday, July 16, 2011 from 10am to 3pm.

What, you might be asking, is a tour de coops?

This is a fun and affordable community event for you, your whole family and all your friends! Chicken owners throughout Portland will open their yards so you can see their coops and meet their chickens.

The Tour de Coops is a self-guided tour; you’ll have the opportunity to visit 22 backyard chicken coops all over East Portland – getting to know your neighbors while learning and sharing urban chicken keeping ideas.

Purchase a tour booklet (which serves as your ticket) at Garden Fever (3433 NE 24th), Urban Farm Store (2100 SE Belmont), or People’s Coop (3029 SE 21st) from July 8-16 for a mere $15. Visit the Growing Gardens website for more information, including how to enter the raffle to win a coop made by The Garden Coop!

June 13, 1931: St. Johns Bridge Dedicated During Rose Festival

by 2 Comments

St. John's Bridge, Spans Willamette River at US Highway 30, Portland, Multnomah County, OR

A huge parade preceded the opening of Portland’s newest bridge on June 13, 1931. The procession began at Grand avenue and Hawthorne and snaked its way out to North Portland where Rose Festival Queen Rachel snip-snipped the ribbon after County Commissioner German speechified (The Sunday Oregonian, 14-June-1931):

“It will make possible the starting of a new stream of traffic that would have been impossible before; it marks the surmounting of a barrier,” Mr. German said. “And we hope that the traffic justifies the expenditure. The work speaks for itself – R. Boblow, the resident engineer, is a wizard of bridge construction.”

The St. Johns Bridge, when it opened, was the longest suspension bridge west of Detroit. One of its piers, at a height of 163 feet, was the tallest reinforced concrete pier in the world. The 205′ underclearance above navigable water at the central span was a record as well.

May 25, 1972: Oregon’s Tallest Building Dedicated

by Leave a Comment

Wells Fargo CenterThe 40-story Wells Fargo Tower in downtown Portland was the tallest building in Oregon when it was dedicated on May 25, 1972 (The Oregonian, 26-May-1972). It is still the tallest building in Oregon.*

Originally called the First National Center, the Charles Luckman Associates-designed building was constructed for $40 million dollars. When it opened the first 21 floors, plus the five stories of the adjacent (via sky bridge) data processing plant building, were occupied by the First National Bank (about 1500 employees at the time). Bank president Ralph J. Voss and Governor Tom McCall spoke at the dedication ceremony.

* Though often touted as such (notably by Chuck Palahniuk in Fugitives and Refugees), the US Bankcorp Tower, aka Big Pink, is not the tallest building in Portland. It’s #2, about 10 feet shorter than the Wells Fargo Tower. Big Pink does, however, have more stories, and certainly appears taller as it’s immediately surrounded by shorter buildings.

Wells Fargo Center photo by Wikimedia Commons user Cacophony, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.