Built in 1885 at Southwest 14th Avenue and Morrison Street, Portland High School was the city's first dedicated public high school building. It was renamed Lincoln High School in 1909, the same year that the current Jefferson High School was built. Lincoln High moved into a new building (now Lincoln Hall on the PSU campus) in 1912 and this building was torn down in 1929. (Portland Archives and Records
The old Armory was such a cool place in the '60s. It's used to be the home of Portland Wrestling and it was a hopping joint on Friday and Saturday nights. My grade school buddies and I had access to free tickets and we went almost every week to watch guys like Lonnie Mayne, ToughTony Borne, Haru Sasaki, Sandy Barr, et al. Shag Thomas was the referee, Frank Bonema was the announcer (and a perfect foil for the over the top wrestlers) and nobody messed with Ringside Rosie. Besides the Portland Buckaroos, wrestling was all we had until the Blazers came to town, and the Armory was the perfect place for it. I'm glad they kept at least half of it.
The National Guard Armory was still in one piece when this photo was taken in 1953. Today, much of the section of the building closest to the camera is gone and a condo tower now sits on the site. The back section, however, remains and has been renovated. It is now home to the Gerding Theater at The Armory in the Pearl District. (Portland Archives and Records Center)
Wow, I still vividly remember St. V's. My brothers and I (not to mention our mother) were all born there. I also had eye surgery there when I was 4.
Today, St. Vincent Hospital is in Washington County. But when this photo was taken taken in 1911, St. Vincent loomed over Northwest Portland. It was along Northwest Westover Road, between Glisan and Irving Streets. The area is now occupied by condominiums. (Portland Archives and Records Center)
Got to tour this awesome place as a Cub Scout. Talk about a serious bonfire. A classmate's father was one of the responding firemen. He said they never had a chance to fight it, their efforts went towards keeping it from spreading. It burned to the ground in 3 hours. And it's loss was a major kick in the nuts to Portlanders. A huge deal back in the day. it was such a freaking cool building and a big part of the city's identity.
One of the star attractions of the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition was the Forestry Building. It was also one of the few buildings to survive the closure of the fair. While most of the buildings were intended to be temporary, the Forestry Building was built to be permanent. But it didn't last. It was destroyed by a fire in 1964. (Portland Archives and Records Center)
And that's a bad thing??
Hey thanks Sly! I appreciate it. If you're interested in Portland history, including some good photos, wander into Powell's someday and see if they carry the books on Portland by E. Kimbark McColl. They're kinda dry and exhaustive in spots but full of interesting stuff. If I remember correctly, they came out in the '80s (my copies are buried on a shelf in the garage and I'm too lazy to dig them out)
