Dave Knows Portland

March 7, 2001: Portland Trailblazers Retire Clyde Drexler’s Number

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BlazersLargerClyde “The Glide” Drexler entertained Portland Trailblazer fans with his acrobatic flair and scoring prowess from 1983 until he moved on to his hometown Houston Rockets in 1995.

With Houston Clyde promptly won an NBA championship, something he couldn’t quite pull off in Portland, though the team made it to the NBA finals in 1990 and 1992. Other Portland greats on the two finals teams were Terry Porter, Buck Williams, Jerome Kersey, Cliff Robinson, and the late Kevin Duckworth.

Clyde Drexler retired from the NBA in 1998. On March 7, 2001 his number, 22, was retired during a ceremony at the Rose Garden Arena.

He now works as the color commentator for the Rockets.

February 19, 1903: St. Johns Incorporated as City

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Downtown St. Johns, circa 1908 / Oregon Historical Society Neg. No. 45949St. Johns has a confusing history. It was part of Albina, then Portland, then not. Then part of Portland again, after going it alone a few years as an incorporated city.

St. Johns was annexed by the City of Albina in February of 1891 and then absorbed into the City of Portland in July. But after enduring a few years of unsatisfactory municipal services and higher taxes, the citizens of St. Johns convinced the Oregon Legislature in 1898 to let their municipality secede from Portland.

And then, on February 19, 1903, St. Johns was incorporated as a city.

St. Johns’ municipal contentedness didn’t last long, however, and efforts began in 1907 to re-join Portland. After several years of legal wrangling St. Johns officially voted to be re-annexed to Portland and on July 8, 1915 St. Johns, along with Linnton on the other side of the Willamette, joined the City of Portland once again.

February 16, 1893: First Electric Interurban Connects Portland and Oregon City

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OC Electric Railway Opens (from Feb. 17, 1893 Oregonian)One of the first interurban electric railways in the country connected Portland and Oregon City. Called the East Side Railway, the first official ride took place on February 16, 1893. The Oregonian reported the next day:

The formal opening of the East Side Railway Company’s electric line between Portland and Oregon City took place yesterday afternoon, and was made the occasion of quite a demonstration at the Falls City. At 2:10pm the company’s car “Helen” left the corner of Madison and Second . . .

The 16 mile long line ran until 1958. Now an effort is underway to create The Trolley Trail, a regional multi-use trail, utilizing the old streetcar line right-of-way between the Milwaukie and Gladstone.

1st Annual Perfect Pickle (7-February-2011)

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The Shape of Things to Come from dill pickle club on Vimeo.

The Perfect PickleThe first annual Perfect Pickle event takes place Monday, February 7, 2011 from 7pm until 11pm at the Cleaners at the Ace Hotel (1022 SW Stark).

The Perfect Pickle is as a fundraiser and membership drive for The Dill Pickle Club, Portland’s volunteer-driven non-profit group dedicated to organizing non-traditional educational tours, program, and publication. 2010’s accomplishments and will be celebrated and 2011’s programs programs will be announce.

The main event is the Pickle Challenge, pitting chefs from Beast, Chop Butchery, DOC, Le Happy, Navarre, Olympic Provisions, Salt Fire & Time, and Unbound Pickling in a battle of pickles. Each chef will prepare a dozen jars of pickles from the same base ingredients to sell for the benefit of the Dill Pickle Club.

The celebrity judges: Dave Dahl (Dave’s Killer Bread), Tony Perez (Food Critic, Portland Mercury) and Courtney Sproule (Din Din Catering).

Guest get to sample too, before the Pickler of the Year trophy is awarded and the jars are auctioned off by AC Dickson!

To round out the evening there will be live musical performances by Marisa Anderson, Orca Team, and DJ Cuica, and Ninkasi and Coalition beers will be available.

The Perfect Pickle is free to members, $5 for everyone else – become a member at the event and receive $5 off membership. For more details visit the Dill Pickle Club events page.

January 24, 1917: Trolley Crosses Columbia on Rails for First Time

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Trolley Car on Bridge (excerpt from The Oregonian 25-January-1917)The first span of the Interstate Bridge opened in 1917. It was the first automobile bridge between Oregon and Washington. Much later, in 1958, the second span was built. The original span now serves to convey traffic north into Vancouver. The bridge was designed by J.A.L. Waddell who also designed Portland’s Steel and Hawthorne bridges.

But the bridge was not designed just for automobiles. Streetcar tracks and five foot sidewalks were installed as well.

The bridge opened to the general public on February 15, 1917, but on January 24, 1917 a streetcar made a trial run across the bridge, making it the first trolley car to cross the Columbia River on rails.

Streetcars traveled regularly between Vancouver and Portland, across the Interstate Bridge, until 1940.