F A C E B O O K

In Review

Photo of Wan and Violet Jower (by the door). Possibly Henry and Joe Jower. Unknown who the adult woman and small child were. Sidewalk in front of store appears to be wooden. Jower family photo. Don Nelson used this same photograph in his book St. JOHNS AND THE NORTH PORTLAND PENINSULA. Don noted the store was built in 1906 and the photo was believed to have been taken circa 1910. Marilyn Jower Korenaga, granddaughter of Wan, continued operating the family business until its 100th anniversary at which time she felt it was the right time to close the store.

The Jower's Building as it appears today

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In early St Johns, before speed bumps were as popular as they are today, road crews went to great lengths to make our dirt streets as smooth as possible. Unknown location, unknown date. A larger version can be found here - http://www.stjohnsheritage.org/.../Horse-Teams-used-for...

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Here is the man that helped fund Autzen stadium. He is Thomas J. Autzen a St Johns business man. He went to what is now Oregon State University but had the stadium named for his eldest son who had gone to the University of Oregon. Thomas J Autzen is in the front with his son Thomas E Autzen in back to his left. Thomas J. was involved with Portland Manufacturing Co., known for its plywood manufacturing innovations.

Portland Manufacturing Co after being rebuilt from 1910 fire. Thomas Autzen Photo

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This city of Portland photo was taken in 1932. This building was located at the corner of N. Leavitt Avenue and N. Ivanhoe Street. Note that Letson's Garage can be seen on the left and on the right is the New St Johns Hotel. A larger view can be found here - https://vintageportland.wordpress.com/.../unidentifie.../...

The back and side of the building can be seen from this view. Second building on the right.

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Adult males turning out to vote in 1905. It would be another 7 years before women were allowed to join them. "Oregon has the distinction of placing the question of votes for women on the ballot six times—in 1884, 1900, 1906, 1908, 1910, and 1912—more than any other state." - Oregon Encyclopedia (Oregon Historical Society)

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Interior of Currin's for Drugs 8438 N Lombard during the St Johns Merchants' Halloween Sale October 1963.

Vivian Kjersgaard, Cecil Swart, and co-owner Margurette Davis celebrating Oregonian's Centennial.

 

Photo dates to the last days of Pattie's Home Plate Cafe

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August 19, 1938. Looking N W on Fessenden from Six Point. Cassidy Grocery on right, next is bank building. Abandoned streetcar tracks in center of road.

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Then and now. The intersection of Philadelphia and Lombard circa 1961 compared with photo taken by Robin Smith on 10/22/24.

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This picture of the Holbrook Block, built in 1906, was taken in 1923 and known then as the Peninsula National Bank. This area is now the northern parking lot of U.S. National Bank.

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The Lind family of St Johns were active in the Bachelor Club. Halvor (Grit) Lind, Donald (Bat) Lind, Nooma Lind and Thomas (Scoot) Lind at a Bachelor's Club party in the 70's

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Oregon Historical Society Digital Collections: A woman stands in the doorway of a cabin at the Meadowlark trailer camp for shipyard workers, near the Oregon Shipyards in St. Johns, Portland. The cabin appears to be sided in various pieces of deteriorating wood, and pieces of wood can be seen on the ground forming a walkway over dirt. The camp owner, J.F. Gilmore, was arrested multiple times in 1943 for running a camp without a certificate of inspection. The full photo can be viewed here.

Meadowlark was not a sanctioned war housing project. Source: Multnomah County / City of Portland Archives.

Meadowlark lasted well after the end of WWII.

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Aerial view of St Johns Portland Lumber Mills. Wayne Smith photo.

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St Johns And The North Portland Peninsula was published in 2020. It is the second of two books by Don Nelson dealing with St Johns and the surrounding areas. Highly recommended.

An example of the photographs and comments you will find in St. Johns And The North Portland Peninsula by Don Nelson.

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May 23, 1985. Wayne Hatch of Currins for Drugs with Cornet store in background at Lombard and Leavitt. Gil Parton admitted he spent a lot of time in Cornet's as a kid, hanging out in the toy department. We're sure he wasn't the only one.

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Frederick H. Ramsey (1824 - 1895) was an early St Johns pioneer. Fred was known for being a bit eccentric because he dressed in buckskins, moccasins and a hat adorned with a pheasant feather. It was said that he preferred the company of Native Americans over his fellow white settlers. Robin Smith took this photo in 1979.

Learn more about Fred Ramsey.

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Article was from the August 3, 1977 issue of the Oregonian. The man on top of city hall is Howard Galbraith "Mayor of St Johns" who is fixing the bell so it will ring again. Howard Galbraith was responsible for establishing Cathedral Park and championed City Hall's
renovation.

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Couch and Currier grocery store 108 S Jersey ( 8527 N Lombard ) as it looked in 1950. Located behind the St Johns Drugs sign, the building was remodeled by Couch and Currier October 1922. Their store was called the Grabateria. Originally they had been located in the building where H F Clark had his first store at Tacoma (Alta) and Jersey (Lombard).

Learn more about the Grabateria.

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Portland Woolen Mills 1944

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Known today as the Sentry Building, on the corner of Ivanhoe and Burlington, it started out as the New St Johns Hotel in 1906. Google Maps photo taken May 2009

Before there was the New St Johns Hotel there was the original St Johns Hotel. The first one located on Jersey St.

 The New St Johns Hotel opened in April 1906. It featured a grill-room, bar, and of course rooms for rent.

You can see part of the New St Johns Hotel in our Facebook cover photo

The St Johns Hotel company received the first liquor license in the City of St Johns in 1906, but that didn't last long. Around 1908 St Johns entered the prohibition era and saloon licenses had to be refunded.

Here is what the (New) St Johns Hotel building looked like in 1918. The MacFarland - Robinson Ford Agency operated out of this building in 1922 and 1923. The Agency (we would call them dealerships today) had an address of 205 ( now 7238 N Burlington ) across from City Hall. McCamey Motors bought McFarland - Robinson out in August 1923 and in January of 1924 moved into their new building at 8501 N Lombard. St Johns had many automobile dealerships beginning in the 1920's.

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Dawson St. was changed to Lombard St. at two locations - in 1909 and 1916.

Over the years many of the street names (& numbers) changed in St Johns. What is referred to now as Portland's Great Renumbering Project (1931-1933) first began in St Johns. By the way Linnton was the last community to have its street names and numbers changed. Photo credit for the house photo goes to Vintage Portland / City of Portland. Learn more - https://alamedahistory.org/.../portlands-great.../ and https://vintageportland.wordpress.com/.../new-house.../...

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Mike Noce, long time resident of St Johns gives his views of changes being made to the town in an article from the September 1, 1977
issue of the St Johns Review. This was 47 years ago.

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This photo was taken in April of 1920. The James Arthur Hoes family lived at 7806 N Jersey, which was on the corner of Jersey and Tyler. This view of the home was taken from Tyler St. Mr Hoes had photography studios at three locations in St Johns over the years. The first was across of the street from James John School. Stack of wood on lawn is spare slabs of wood from the lumber mill used as firewood. Many home owners used this type of wood in their fireplaces prior to WWII.

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Here is another photo of James Ross Gatton, taken at a different time but striking a similar pose.

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Photo of the Cochran Block and Central Hotel from Risa Davis. The original Central Hotel was in the building called the Cochran Block which opened in November of 1904. The Cochran Block was three stories with shops and businesses on the street floor on Jersey (Lombard) and Philadelphia. The hotel was on the upper two stories.

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First train to enter the city of St Johns in May, 1890. Photo capture from Let's Talk Trolleys: St Johns Streetcars

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A reproduction postcard found in Westchester, NY. This reprint is labeled W-5. Reprint W-2 is being sold out of Florida on eBay. The St Johns Bridge was completed in 1931.

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These two original St Johns Bridge marker lights were on display for many years in the lobby of the US National Bank. Now in the possession of the St Johns Heritage Association they can be viewed at the ODD Fellows Museum of ODD History.

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1945 ad for Ray's Steak House at 8406 N Kellogg. Ray's Steak House opened August 19, 1944. On September 2, 1949 this became the St Johns Bowl. Ray Oeschger was the owner of the Steak House and the St Johns Bowl. In 1917 it was the Chaney Moving Co.

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June 29, 1941

Joe Fisher opened Union Motors at 8824 N Jersey, a Dodge-Plymouth dealership, June 29, 1941. From June 1943 to early January 1948 this same location was home to Harbor Motor Company. Harbor Motor Company acquired their Ford dealership franchise in November 1947 and moved to a new building located at 7810 N Lombard January 8, 1948.

August 5, 1943

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 This photo was taken in 1905. St Johns Hotel on left is at the corner of Leavitt and Lombard which is now Sabatino Moto. Far middle left is the Central School built in 1894 which was located on the corner of Lombard and Charleston which is now the playground for the James John grade school. The trolley tracks can be seen going down the middle of the unpaved street.

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The old Post Office many of us grew up with in St Johns began its construction in 1931 and was completed in 1933. Artwork funded by the New Deal was installed in local post offices around the country from 1934-1943. From Wikipedia : They were commissioned through a competitive process by the United States Department of the Treasury. Some 1,400 murals were created for federal post office buildings in more than 1,300 U.S. cities. Murals still extant are the subject of efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to preserve and protect them.

 

The concept for our post office artwork was produced by John R. Ballator in 1935. The painting now resides in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. You will note that in the final version, consisting of two panels, some of the objects on the left were transferred to the right and vise versa. Additional content was also added. The artwork was completed in 1936.

 

Here are links showing the two mural panels https://www.flickr.com/.../auvet/6060674464/in/photostream/ & https://www.flickr.com/.../auvet/6060674348/in/photostream/

 

The Portland Baha'i Center has owned the old post office since 1991. As of 2023 the murals have been covered from public view. New Deal era artwork has been covered up at the direction of the USPS is several locations. It is unclear what will become of this now historic artwork. https://blog.evankalish.com/.../usps-officials-order...

 

The 1935 painting is entitled Building St. Johns. The 1936 lobby murals are entitled Development of St. Johns.

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Radke's Auto Parts 6666 N Columbia Blvd opens March 16, 1951 from St Johns Review. Columbia Blvd renamed to Columbia Way from N Smith to Bridge Structure on June 27, 1973. (UNiversity 4444 = 86-4444)

Gil Parton enjoyed sharing St Johns history on Facebook. Below is one of those of exchanges of local history with Debbie Larsen:

 

Debbie Larsen: The street was originally called Columbia Blvd. The section that Radke's sits on was renamed sometime in the 60's, when the current Columbia Blvd. overpass was built nearby. I worked at Radke's in the late 70's and occasionally would run across paperwork with their address change slogan on it: "We didn't move: the street did!"

 

Gil Parton: Lombard Way between Oswego and Richmond was called Columbia Blvd up to 1960. At the same time Jersey was renamed Lombard between Richmond and St Johns Ave. Also Burgard was changed to Lombard between St Johns Ave and Burgard Road

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Article and photo thought to be circa 1965 or 1966.

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Bales Food originally opened in 1941 at 8402 N Lombard. Moved to 8336 N Ivanhoe January 1951 (Photo). Fire in 1965, Nov 15 1970 Bales leases to Daris (Dee) Taylor name changed to Taylor's Thriftway.

Bales Thriftway at 8336 N Ivanhoe after fire in 1965

Odus Bales of Bales Thriftway July 1951

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There has been discussions in the past of the many old buildings being torn down. St Johns has many old historical buildings left in its business district. This St Johns photo of around 1915 looking west from Lombard and Burlington. First street on the left is Alma, where the St Johns Theater is now. The first building on the right is now Slim's Restaurant. Slim's and the four tallest buildings on the right are still standing and were built from 1906 to 1911.The building to the right of Slim's not shown was the former St Johns Hardware store and was built in 1898.

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There is currently for sale on eBay a postcard reprint that has much better detail than our cover photo contains. You can find it by searching "St Johns Oregon". Note in the background the fire bell and the fountain with steps leading up to it. The building on the left of the City Hall building is the Rose City Hotel.

Another view of the Rose City Hotel

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Gilbert Overstreet was a notable figure in St Johns having first owned a plumbing fixture shop, then later becoming a plumbing inspector. Gilbert was a distinguished member of ODD Fellows and a charter member of the St Johns Christian Church. Currently there are portraits for sale on eBay of the Overstreet family. Gilbert is the one on the right.

 

Lewis Stone had related in one of our Heritage meetings years ago that Gilbert Overstreet had kept a brand new 1923 Chevrolet radiator under his front porch. Gilbert being a city plumbing inspector frequently traveled around town and like Lewis was somewhat of a pack rat.

If Gilbert saw something of value when he was out and about he would stop and pick it up. Eventually that radiator was acquired by Lewis and proudly displayed in his garage.

 

To read more on this story follow this link - http://www.stjohnsheritage.org/?page_id=54

 

Gilbert Overstreet had at least 3 business locations in St Johns, including his house.

 

Scanned from a copy of an Oregon Journal article. There appears to be more to the story.

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The National Cash Register Company had exhibits in three buildings at the 1905 Lewis & Clark Fair.

 

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~ Support our Local Newspapers ~

St Johns Review

Publication has been suspended while they reorganize under new ownership

North Peninsula Review

For a complete listing of where the NPR is

available for pickup check here - https://northpeninsulareview.com/about/#pickup

 

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The Odd Fellows of North Portland were ordinary blue-collar workers who were able to have an extraordinary impact on their community through the tools they learned from organizing as a lodge. Lodges were a safety net for these workers, as they were one of the only sources at that time for insurance and sick pay. William Killingsworth, a charter member of Peninsula Lodge and whom Killingsworth Street is named after, believed this to be true, so he formed an investment company that began connecting the other North Portland communities via rails. As these communities were connected, Odd Fellows lodges sprang up. First was Peninsula Lodge No. 128. Then there were Woodlawn, Laurel Lodge, and Kenton Lodge, which later became Star Lodge, a lodge for police officers. Over the years, other lodges formed as well. Now, they have all closed except for Peninsula, which thrives because it was able to adapt to a modern approach for operating a lodge.

 

Author David D. Scheer is a fifth-generation Odd Fellow and has been involved in the fraternity for 43 years. Bruce Haney is the author of two other Oregon history books. Many of the photographs come from the archives of the Museum of Odd History as well as the St. Johns Heritage Association and the Odd Fellows Grand Lodge of Oregon.

 

List price for this publication is $24.99 but it is available for purchase at The Museum of ODD History for only $20.

 

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/9781467161329

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Oregon is commonly perceived to have little, let alone notable, South Asian history. Yet in the early 1900s Oregon was at the center of two entwined quests for Indian independence and civic belonging that rocked the world.

 

Punjabi Rebels of the Columbia River traces the stories of the radical Indian independence organization known as Ghadar and Bhagat Singh Thind’s era-defining US Supreme Court citizenship case. Ghadar sought the overthrow of India’s British colonizers while Thind utilized sanctioned legal channels to do so. Despite widely differing strategies, both the movement and the man were targeted, often in coordination, by the highest levels of the US and British governments. The empires’ united message: India would not be an independent country and Indians could not be citizens. In the decades that followed, it was a verdict Indians refused to abide.

 

Johanna Ogden’s detailed history of migrants’ experience expands the time frame, geographic boundaries, and knowledge of the conditions and contributions of Indians in North America. It is the story of a people’s awakening amid a rich community of international workers in an age of nationalist uprisings. To understand why one of the smallest western Indian settlements became a resistance center, Punjabi Rebels mines the colonial underpinnings of labor, race, and place-making and their regional and global connections, rendering a history of whiteness and labor as much as of Indian-ness and migration. The first work to rejoin the lived experience of Thind and Ghadar activists, Punjabi Rebels complicates our understanding not just of the global fight for Indian political rights but of multi-racial democracy.

 

https://www.ohs.org/.../punjabi-rebels-of-the-columbia...

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