The neighborhood, then and now

I am not sure what prompted me, but I thought I’d look for historic photos of the neighborhood in the Portland Archives. Unfortunately, the full archives are only open 10-4 M-F, which are hours that do not work for me. Fortunately, they have a subset of their material online as something called Efiles. I was able to dig up a number of photos. In comparison, I am including Google Street View equivalents (because I was too lazy this weekend to go out and shoot more exact photos myself.)

Looking north on 52nd, at Foster — 1937

Our house is about two or three blocks up, on the right. The auto shop is now a used car lot. The vacant lot is now a kennel for cats and dogs.

Looking north on 52nd, 1937
Looking north on 52nd, 2008

Looking west at Foster and 50th — 1937

This is now the fast food intersection. KFC here, Taco Bell across the street, Burger King across the street and out of frame to the left. To the immediate right, also out of frame, is a strip club. I believe we have both four churches and four strip clubs within a few blocks of our place.

Looking west at Foster and 50th, 1937
Looking west on Foster and 50th, 2008

Powell and 39th, looking east — 1937

What used to be a pair of gas stations is now a Safeway and a strip-mall.

Powell and 39th, looking east, 1937
Powell and 39th, looking east, 2008

39th and Hawthorne, looking south — 1965

Two of the building are still there–the Fred Mayer building (just out of frame in the 2008 photo) and the Hawthorne Theater (although I have no idea if that is what they were back in the 60s.) One of the gas stations is a Jiffy Lube and the other is a Washington Mutual.

39th and Hawthorne, looking south, 1965
39th and Hawthorne, looking south, 2008

Hawthorne, looking toward the Bagdad — 1971

The buildings are all still there, The Bagdad looks to be the only business to remain the same.

Hawthorne, looking toward the Bagdad, 1971
Hawthorne, looking toward the Bagdad, 2008
Posted in: Pictures Portland

5 thoughts on “The neighborhood, then and now”

  1. I’m sorry to contact you through here, but I didn’t seen an email to try.
    I’m with Turner Publishing and we have a title “Historic Photos of Portland” that I thought you might be interested in. This book is a pictorial narrative of the area’s history, told through photos from specific archives (from the one you mention above, too). If you would like I could send you a complimentary copy for possible review in your blog and help us spread the word about our series. If you’d like, you can email me back at the address given with a shipping address and I’ll get one out to you this week. Again, it’s absolutely free and no I’m not spam 🙂 I hope to hear from you soon!
    Liz

  2. @Ouroboros Technically, it really WAS an “armchair project.” I did the whole thing from the laptop in an easy chair, as opposed to at a desk. 🙂

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