Dave Knows Portland

May 24, 1958: New Morrison Bridge Opens

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Willamette Sunset, by @brx0 on Flickr. Photo used here under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).

The first Morrison Bridge opened in 1887, followed by Morrison Bridge #2 in 1905. Barriers were placed at the entrance of the latter and its draw was turned to the open position for river traffic on Saturday, May 24, 1958 as the third Morrison Bridge was dedicated and opened (The Oregonian, 25-May-1958).

The Morrison Bridge main river structure consists of two 237’-9″ steel deck truss side spans and a 284′ 6″ double-leaf Chicago type bascule draw span, for a total bridge length of 760 feet. The bridge accommodates six lanes of traffic. Vertical clearance of the closed bascule span is adequate for the majority of river traffic, with openings necessary only about 30 times per month.

At the dedication ceremony keynote speaker Jack Bain, Multnomah County Commission chairman, paid tribute to the workmanship and effort which went into the new project. Fellow commissioners M. James Gleason and Al Brown, and Mayor Terry D. Schrunk also made comments.

At 11am, using gold scissors that afterwards were turned over the Oregon Historical Society, the commissioners’ wives snipped the ribbon. The Benson and Wilson High School marching bands, accompanied by Air Force and Marine color guards, marched from either end of the bridge to the middle, while fire boats shot huge arches of water and three Delta-winged F-102 jets from McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma roared over the city.

Mr. Omer Jacobson, driving a 1920 Daniels touring sedan, gunned it to be the first one over the just opened bridge, east to west, garnering a mention in the paper, along with Ms. Catherine M. Blood in a 1955 model car, who was first across in the other direction.

Urban Archaeology in SW Portland

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Burlingame Fred Meyer (Photo by Samuel John Klein)The Burlingame Fred Meyer (7555 SW Barbur), the oldest store in the chain that is still operating, is undergoing renovations and will be closed until September. The renovation work, ZehnKatzen Times blogger and culture vulture Samuel John Klein notes, has revealed some clues to the building’s design past:

Naturally, having the outside off the way it is, the building has had its skin removed; we’re looking at the bones. It’s more interesting than I thought it would be. For instance, in the above photo, notice the slanting-out faces of the vertical supports. They have details on, some grooves in the masonry that add visual interest, and there are mansard-style caps on each of them.

See more photos and read more of Samuel’s thoughts and comments on the building and the vintage sign (which will be retained post-renovation) in his post: Urban Archaeology at the Burlingame Fred Meyer.

Photo credit: Photo of vintage Burlingame Fred Meyer Sign by Samuel John Klein, used with permission.

April 25, 1935: Fire Destroys Oregon State Capitol

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Capitol Fire 1935

Morning Oregonian (26-April-1935)Floyd McMullen of Hermiston, a nineteen year old Willamette University student employed at Salem’s East side fire station, was the sole victim of a fire that destroyed Oregon’s capitol building on April 25, 1935 (The Morning Oregonian, 26-April-1935).

McMullen, while aiding in fighting the blaze, was struck on the head by a falling cornice. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died a few minutes later.

Janitor Rodney Mapes telephoned the fire department around 6:40pm when he discovered the fire, which was confined to the basement when firefighters arrived.

But the fire spread quickly:

Within a half hour the flames shot upwards through hollow pillars from the basement to the corridors and up the elevator shaft. This provided a suction which, with open windows made necessary by the dense smoke, caused the blaze to spread rapidly. After reaching the top of the elevator shaft the flames burned away the woodwork and soon shot out the roof. Tongues of flames could be seen for many miles.

The heavy copper dome collapsed at 8:01pm, throwing flames, sparks and fire brands from both wings of the building with a vicious smashing of windows that brought gasps from the hundreds of spectators. Fortunately the firemen had evacuated the building moments earlier.

The four story Modern Greek-style capitol we know today was dedicated on October 1, 1938.

Rubbings from the Rose City (28-April-2011)

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Rubbings from the Rose CityThe Dill Pickle Club presents Rubbings from the Rose City on Thursday, April 28, 2011 at the American Institute of Architects (403 NW 11th) at 7pm.

Rubbings from the Rose City documents Portland through one-of-a-kind handmade etchings of building façades, gravestones, street signs, manhole covers and more. Self published by Christopher Gossett in 1983, the book provides a unique snapshot of the city and its many familiar landmarks. Celebrate the reprinting of this out-of-print book, as we examine the interface of art and the built environment.

Presenters will discuss places in Portland they appreciate for architectural, historical, and artistic form; followed by Q & As with the audience.

The presenters:

VAL BALLESTREM is an independent historian and the education manager for the Bosco-Milligan Foundation/Architectural Heritage Center in Portland. A life-long Oregonian, he has a master’s degree in western U.S. history and public history from Portland State University.

DOUG BLANDY is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of the Arts and Administration Program in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon. His research and teaching attends to art educational experiences in community-based settings that meet the needs of all students within a life-long learning context. His research and teaching also concentrates on the relationships between art, education, community and place.

RANDY GRAGG has written for, edited, and produced a wide range of publications over the last 30 years. His current day (and, often, night) job is editing Portland Monthly magazine. But he still seems to be best known for the many years he wrote on art and architecture for The Oregonian.

KHRIS SODEN is an artist who makes work focusing on place and history in Portland. He authored the popular comic series “City of Roses,” in the arts journal The Organ, focused on lesser known Portland histories. He has also conducted tours of Portland, and written about architecture in the city on his blog, http://khrissoden.blogspot.com/.

The Dill Pickle Club, Portland’s volunteer-driven non-profit group dedicated to organizing non-traditional educational tours, program, and publication. A recommended donation of $0-10 is requested in lieu of admission. Copies of the book are available for $16 (members) / $20 (non-members).

rubbings from the rose city from dill pickle club on Vimeo.

April 7, 1890: The Portland Hotel Opens

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Portland HotelBefore Pioneer Courthouse Square, the block was a parking lot. Before the parking lot, the block was home to the Portland Hotel (aka Hotel Portland), which opened on April 7, 1890 (and before the hotel, one of Portland’s first schools occupied the location).

The Oregonian (8-April-1890) wrote of the importance of this development to Portland:

We have in this hotel an instrumentality that will be of greater service in building up the city than any other single thing could possibly be. It will speedily become another sign and attestation of the pre-eminence of Portland in the Northwest, whose chief city should have, as it now does have, the finest, largest and best hotel. A city is judged by its hotel accommodations, and on this basis of judgment Portland henceforward will take the rank she deserves.

The Portland Hotel sported 326 elegant guest rooms distributed over 8 floors and everything else one would expect in a modern hotel: parlors and sitting rooms, a restaurant, a bar, a ballroom, dining rooms, etc. It also boasted steam heat and gas and electric lights.

Railroad man Henry Villard, who also spearheaded efforts to build Union Station, began constructing the hotel in the 1880s, but ran out of money. A group of Portland business men raised money to finish construction by selling subscriptions, and the hotel was completed.

In 1951 the hotel was razed and replaced with a parking lot, as developers were wont to do in the 1950s.