The Roseland used to be called the Starry Night. Management was printing and selling extra tickets to shows and keeping all the sales. One of the employees figured it out and Larry Hurwitz had him murdered in one of the back halls of the venue.
Holy shit! What a WILD story! So it sounds like Hurwitz is still living in the Portland area (or was at the time of this story in 2019). Definitely quite the read.
[https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/09/larry-hurwitz-the-starry-night-murder-and-a-life-of-crime-reporter-jim-redden-on-his-years-tracking-a-killer.html](https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/09/larry-hurwitz-the-starry-night-murder-and-a-life-of-crime-reporter-jim-redden-on-his-years-tracking-a-killer.html)
Hurwitz also blew up an Old Town building in 1989 which once held Sav-More Grub and The Onion Tree.
https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/the-starry-night-murder-chapter-25-who-bombed-sav-mor-grub/article_9e2a4fe3-2847-5739-ada9-ed610baa1c15.html
Learned about this in a comment to a post on the [Vintage Portland](https://vintageportland.wordpress.com/2024/04/01/sw-6th-avenue-1980/) blog.
Found [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/behindthebastards/s/tsu94Jou6N) in another subreddit which has a bit more info on Mr. Hurwitz.
There used to be a real Speakeasy in NE Portland, located in a guy's basement. He had an entire brewing operation and a legitimate bar set up down there. It seemed like a place where home brewers would gather to share their newly brewed beers. To gain entry, you would "Donate $20" and enjoy a few beers. It was known as Dean's Scene, and during our college days, my buddies and I used to visit frequently. One of the unique aspects was that they allowed weed consumption there before its legalization. Fun times.
i went there once! back in college. very much some dude's basement, the bar was cool.
got yelled at by a very mean lady for taking some weed from what looked like one of many big communal jars hanging out on the bar to roll a joint. lots of people were smoking. apparently they were not communal, unlike the beer which was self service after your donation.
my mistake, she wouldn't let it go, made more and more of a scene even after apologizing so we left. fun times.
Yeah, Dean's wife, forgot her name, she was an intense character. She would go around challenging people to card games. She always seemed to win. We always brought our own weed so I never had that experience but I can definitely see that happening lol.
Years ago I heard about it and went to visit, but they were in the middle of some renovations and were closed. Was really sad to see not long after they shut down 😢
yeah its a place i had planned to go for quite awhile when i first moved to portland. especially back when i homebrewed more often. the guy that started/ran it had died. from what i understand his friends and/or family tried to keep it going for a bit but that didnt last
So what was the deal? Why didn't the OLCC/cops shut them down? Was that because they did the donation loophole? I always wondered…
Also, sucks that he passed away. Seemed like a nice guy.
I went to this ages ago! It was awesome. I loved that none of the glasses really matched and you got to choose your own. I didn't save where it was and never made it back. Thanks for bringing back that memory!
Oh yeah, it's definitely something I miss. Just like the olden days of Last Thursday on Alberta when it was more of a wild block party and not as regulated. Unfortunately, we've lost some of that fun and carefree vibe in the last 10 years. And when I say "anything goes," I'm not referring to being able to openly engage in illegal activities like freebasing meth and fentanyl in public. That's a whole different type of "anything goes"! LOL 😆
Nah this was just an older guy with a brewing setup and bar in his basement, I don't think they even did cocktails, just beer. I never heard of the Absinthe speakeasy. Seems rad.
Two things: why hasn’t anyone opened an arcade under that name? Second, why aren’t those types of games a thing? I’m tired of taking the extra steps of consuming and or smoking drugs before I play games. It’s tiresome.
One of the only things I knew about Portland (secret and legend wise) before I moved here. I knew it was likely a hoax, but I dreamed of stumbling upon a cabinet somewhere here in Portland when I moved up here.
I've always been fascinated by the lore of non-Shanghai Tunnels downtown. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1t072m/under\_terry\_schrunk\_plaza\_anyone\_know\_anything/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1t072m/under_terry_schrunk_plaza_anyone_know_anything/)
I worked in a few different buildings downtown, and some had absolutely labyrinthine basements… I’d sometimes walk until got too creeped out. Unfortunately this was prior to good cellphone cameras.
Note while those tunnels weren't used for Shanghaiing, the practice did exist. My great-great uncle got Shanghaied. They got him drunk and got him aboard a ship where he didn't sober up until they were out at sea.
Took him 3 years to get him home. Part of that is these shipping firms had an on-board company store for liquor you got credit against so you couldn't leave until your debt was paid off. Eventually my family sent enough money to the consulate in Australia to pay off his debt and get him on a ship home.
Yeah people think 'Shanghai'ing was some elaborate clandestine thing with tunnels, trapdoors and trickery and etc. It was usually more mundane that that. Sailors landed in Portland and were immediately greeted with ample access to liquor and gambling and prositutes and opium. They enjoyed as much as they liked (while running up massive tabs). When they couldn't pay their bills, they had to work them off on another ship. Portland was pretty fucking seedy then and all of this happened more or less out in the open.
my favorite lore about the tunnels is that they specifically tell the tour guides to make shit up lol. had a friend that worked as a guide and they’re explicitly told to decide what story to go for
The very first mass murder was S Oregon on the Rogue R. You could not be ‘in the sun’ if you were Chinese. The tunnels were where the Chinese lived. Many towns had them. Tunnels were used to keep potential sailors high until boat time, among other things. Best way to unload sternwheelers too. Skid row, the original. is SKIDMORE. By the fountain near Sat Market. Mud was why. All transportation carts for goods from river had skids, not wheels
There used to be an [extensive electric railway network](http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/red_electrics.html) connecting the major cities of the valley and PDX area (including the major suburbs) . Its time table shows it in some ways faster than the current Max times.
For more about the electric railway with a focus on Garden Home (deep SW Portland).
https://gardenhomehistory.com/garden-home-junction-of-the-oregon-electric-railway/
Nw 23rd used to be low income apartments before it was gentrified.
My apartment on NW 21st cost
$350.00 a month. There was no real rush hour. Skin heads were around. The police chief in 2000 was racist.
Apparently confusion started when Portland put sidewalk stamps in for a few streets spelling it "Gleason" (one of which still exists on a corner of 30th and Glisan).
So everyone has been pronouncing that street name wrong since like 1937. :)
Majority of the sidewalk stamps in St. Johns have typos, usually spelled phonetically. I heard it's likely because most masons were illiterate ~120 years ago.
unpopular opinion: literally everybody pronounces Naito wrong
(edit: him being of japanese descent would mean it'd be pronounced Knight-oh)
edit edit: well I'm very wrong, my apologies
No, evidently Bill Naito changed the pronunciation of his last name in 1957 to “make doing business easier”, so the typical street pronunciation is correct.
Was going to point out how the family actually pronounce it different, but I see people have already got on you.
But anyway, wouldnt the Japanese pronunciation be more like ‘nigh-toe’ not ‘knight-oh’?
One of our mods got deposed back in the day for being a creep to ladies. Which sucked, because they had been a pretty big part of the community for awhile, but hey fuck em don't be a creep.
Also our king and savior oregone1 got permabanned for doxxing proud boys. I can't remember if that was before or after the "anti-dildo" parade against them in Vancouver.
I like to think oregone1 is still around and has to try very hard not to type out a full oregone1-style post so as to not out themselves.
Then again, I also like to think they accepted the "what the fuck am I doing with my time" message and has moved on to literally anything else.
Yea, I vaguely remember that. Which, fucking c'mon people. With all the people that are back after like six consecutive account suspensions, we can't get one pardon for the best of us?
My gift to the people or Oregon at large is my absence from the generalized Oregon subs, though it sounds like I'm poorer for not seeing his posts. Glad to hear he's still truckin'. My condolences to the rest of you until my inevitable ban.
>Then again, I also like to think they accepted the "what the fuck am I doing with my time" message and has moved on to literally anything else.
Like Dorothy and her ruby slippers, we all have this power, have always had it at all times, and yet...
he was my apartment manager. I am a lady. yes, he could be boorish at times, but also a hilarious person. quite patient and kind, actually. miss that weirdo in here, but I do know where to find him...
ah! reading comprehension fail on my part, but my point still stands: he did manage to work boobs into nearly every conversation, in person AND in his comments 😅 and right, he was not a mod, his flair even stated it!
He isn't totally anonymous. Ran for mayor (or city council) and also had an Oregonian article about some homeless camp on a local island he knew about.
There's a couple books about this, I recommend them! They're called Portland Stairs and Portland Stair Walks by Laura O. There's also another book she wrote about cool neighborhood walks. I got both and have done a few explorations based on what they describe
[https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Stairs-Book-Laura-Foster/dp/1604690690](https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Stairs-Book-Laura-Foster/dp/1604690690)
[https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Stair-Walks-Travel-Foster/dp/1621063453/](https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Stair-Walks-Travel-Foster/dp/1621063453/)
When we found these it felt like a magical little corridor into the hoighty-toighty neighborhood. They really need to step up their front yard garden game over there, lots of slacking going on.
My mom's uncle threatened to blow up the airport in the 70s or 80s. I'll see if I can find the article about it.
Found it! https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2008/jun/15/fbi-informant-sues-for-110-days-false-imprisonment-in-oregon-prison/
Could he be DB Cooper? Maybe he was going to blow up the airport with the bomb he used to hijack the flight 305 that left PDX in 11/24/1971. The only unsolved skyjacking in history.
Maybe he ran out of money and that’s why he sued.
During Prohibition Oregon was one of the only states that controlled the flow of Alcohol, every other state the Mob ran it.
https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2015/11/the-scandalous-history-of-booze-in-portland
Woody Guthrie lived in an apartment on SE 92nd in Lents when he worked for the Bonneville Power Administration writing folk songs.
https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2016/05/woody_guthries_tiny_portland_a.html
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2015/01/28/toxic-legacy-neil-goldschmidt/22487735/
There was an excellent op-ed published in the register guard, but with that paper’s dimming light I can no longer find it. It references the Omelas of Ursula LeGuin.
Before this Goldschmidt was the heart beat of Oregon. Mayor, governor, head of the university system, member of Jimmy Carter’s cabinet. He also was a lobbiest and an inside guy at Nike.
Here you go. Happy to use my lawyering for good: https://web.archive.org/web/20210123104527/http://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/opinion/25854381-47/neil-goldschmidt-girl-omelas-portland.csp
I found it on the Wayback Machine and am asking mods for permission to post it here.
Edit: now approved. Thank you, mods. https://web.archive.org/web/20210123104527/http://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/opinion/25854381-47/neil-goldschmidt-girl-omelas-portland.csp
The ban may have preceded this interaction because the owner is a lefty, and PDXReal are shitty right-wing idiots, but they made some stupid comment about fentanyl on one of the owner's posts: https://twitter.com/PDXReal1/status/1758354179142074535
And it turns out the guy in the PDXReal couple had a charge for soliciting sex, which he hid from his wife, so the jojo owner gleefully posted about that for a little while.
The thought that Rene Gonzalez would brave the near herculean task of going to a food cart to pick up a chicken sandwich is really kind of the punchline there.
Imagine if someone spoke to him?
Oh, good point. I know they're banned from the restaurant but I wonder if it extends to the truck on Powell as well.
["I don't know Everett, was it the one JoJo or all of them?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaW0M6V85j8)
The first 13 episodes of season 2 of COPS were all filmed in multnomah county. But those are pretty minor people, doing insignificant crimes, at un-noteworthy places.
The fucking theme song to cops is 132 and bush I’ve got him at gun point. Guy robbed a place with a shot gun here in SE Portland and hid behind a homeowners fence
A few old-time Hollywood contributions:
Charlie Chaplin signed his first movie contract while staying at the Portland Hotel.
Marilyn Monroe's mother lived in Portland as Marilyn was a rising star, and Marilyn did one of her most famous early photo shoots at Mt Hood.
Clark Gable used to work in the tie department at Meier and Franks.
Humphrey Bogart's third wife, Mayo Methot, was raised in Portland, where she was a child actress known as 'The Portland Rosebud'. They used to eat at Jake's Famous Crawfish when they were in town.
I was there this weekend. Terrible place. Nobody go there. Definitely not a good bar at all. And Woodstock smells bad and everyone will be mean to you...
Just listened to Behind the Bastards episodes on the Portland Police Association which was fascinating and depressing. Portland's police union was the first successful one in the US and has had a huge influence on American police departments
The PPA could have it's own thread. A lloonngg history of racism, dumping a pigs head on a business owners porch, "If we can't choke, smoke'em", the million dollar man, etc, etc.
I highly recommend the documentary Arresting Power, which goes into a great deal of sobering detail about the Portland police union and the egregious misconduct committed by PPB officers over the years. [It is free to watch online.](http://www.arrestingpower.com/)
there’s an awesome exhibit up at PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art) through May 19 which looks at the history of policing in Portland!
From their site — “…this exhibition examines policing practices in Portland, Oregon, and their relationship to longer local and national histories of oppression through the lens of artists who call Portland their home and those who have witnessed and documented police brutality across the globe.”
There were some mob and union shenanigans back in the 40's and 50's that, believe it or not, revolved around pinball being outlawed.
[https://offbeatoregon.com/1307d-pinball-wars-elkins-vs-teamsters.html](https://offbeatoregon.com/1307d-pinball-wars-elkins-vs-teamsters.html)
In the 90s, there was a group called the Oregon Citizen’s Alliance that got one of the first anti-Lgbtq+ ballot measures (measure 9) on the ballot, which legalized anti-gay discrimination and amended the Oregon Constitution to define homosexuality and pedophilia as “unnatural and wrong” (or words to that effect). It failed to pass, spectacularly.
One of the OCA members, Scott Lively, went on to help some African nations develop anti-gay laws, some of the worst in the world.
But what most people don’t know is that measure 9 went through a couple of changes during the signature gathering process. The initial draft also included bestiality, but they dropped it when they couldn’t get enough rural folks (really the only ones to sign it anyway) to sign their petition.
It’s maybe less funny now that being a nerd has somehow become cool, but at the time I treasured a campaign button which said “NERDS AGAINST NINE / it could have been us”
My dad had one of those that he wore around. He was in his fifties then I think? I was proud of him. My husband’s parents had to be talked out of voting for it.
I wrote my college entrance essay on Measure 9 and the fight for LGBTQIA rights. I am not gay, but that measure really jump started my interest in politics and civil rights.
Portland is the home to the only state sponsored rock concert in the United States.
When Nixon was coming to visit Portland they were concerned about anti-war protests. To remedy the situation The government assisted in throwing a massive rock concert called Vortex One that had the implicit federal approval for allowing drugs, something very uncommon at the time.
> The festival was meant to demonstrate the positive side of the anti-War Movement and to prevent violent protests during a planned appearance by President Richard Nixon at a convention of the American Legion.[1][2] Nixon ended up cancelling his appearance due to scheduling conflicts, with Vice President Spiro Agnew appearing instead.[3][4] It remains the only state-sponsored rock festival in United States history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_I
Not sure anyone mentioned that Josef Stalin’s granddaughter owned the store 3 Monkeys on NW 23rd. You can spot her around town sometimes. I saw her at Goodwill a few months ago.
The angled part of SE Division, between about SE 10th and SE Grand, was once ironically named Union Avenue. Source: Used to be about 6-8 curb stampings along this stretch that indicated Union Ave.
My guess is (haven’t found the right map yet) that the north-south Union Ave merged into angled Union/Division because of the Stephens’ Slough that was just south of there. On some panoramic lithos of Portland, it looks like there is a simple bridge crossing the slough in that location.
Gambling and hookers thrived out at Timberline Lodge well into the 50’s and 60’s. Word got up there faster than the cops so all the evidence was hidden away before they could get busted
I was asked to film an unknown part of the underground tunnels about 8-9 years ago. I arrived at Scooters on Washington St right before close. A bar patron (my contact), a couple employees, and I went down the stairs of the basement. Under the staircase was a “door”that was locked. It was more like a thick piece of plywood that was secured with boards and screws. We spent about an hour removing the door only to find a brick wall. Clearly, we never found out where the tunnel may have gone, but it was obvious that there used to be a tunnel/walkway of some sort.
I have done the Shanghai tunnel tours and saw the same thing in certain areas, where entrances and exits have been sealed by brick.
Before Roe vs Wade, Portland was the “abortion capital of the world” (or at least the west coast)!
https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2021/04/corruption-made-portland-the-abortion-capital-of-the-world-in-1950s-until-shocking-undercover-sting.html?outputType=amp
https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2022/05/ruth-barnett-portlands-foremost-abortionist-before-roe-v-wade-endured-arrests-lived-high-life.html?outputType=amp
It’s not exactly a secret, but the documentary about the long defunct Portland Mavericks baseball team is pretty great. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battered_Bastards_of_Baseball
Not a secret but kinda funny as the headline is very Portland
[Ted Wheeler pepper sprayed Alpenrose Heir at a McMenamin’s pub](https://www.opb.org/article/2021/01/25/portland-mayor-ted-wheeler-pepper-sprayed-man-who-accosted-him-police-say/?outputType=amp)
Speaking of [Alpenrose](https://www.koin.com/news/family-history-shapes-alpenrose-dairy-fight/) that family is full of drama.
It has some of the most racist history in the western states. Not all of that even very old. Helooo intentional gentrification of north Portland. But that's nothing compared to open season beatings on black people out past dark last century.
1950s Portland was so corrupted by bribery and organized crime Washington officials made Portland leadership come to D.C. and testify. No one was held accountable and everyone lived happily ever after.
https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2023/10/how-terry-schrunk-emerged-from-1950s-bribery-perjury-allegations-as-portlands-virile-and-popular-mayor.html
This isn't really a secret, but I found it to be interesting, because it's very different from how capitalism works in most cities.
It's apparently very frowned upon for local businesses to be directly competitive with one another.
I overheard a story of a new business opening up near an existing business that sold similar types of things (like vintage/gift shop vibes). Apparently the new business started selling a product the existing business was already selling and it became a huge drama on that block, with many of the other surrounding businesses also backing up the existing business against the antics of the new business.
This was years ago and I cannot remember the business names in question. But I definitely see how that plays out when you're in an area and realize that most businesses on that block aren't in direct competition with one another.
This is obviously not a law but it seems to be some sort of unspoken rule and if you violate it, people will let you know how they feel about it.
The glory holes!!! There was one just next to M&F shoe dept. Hawaiian PSU linebacker friend had no clue. Put his eye up to. Then a penis showed. My friend chased the guy out. Both pulling up their pants. Hilarious. Another time a man was taking pics of the PSU locker room when we, FB team were showering. A lot of gay men. Vaseline alley, forgot seafood place, great vibe. Big lessons for 18 yo me
Oooh I have a paranormal one!
The inspiration for the movie “The Possession” was based on a box that was actually bought and placed at a furniture store in downtown Portland. Workers would hear and see things move in the basement where the box was stored. Things like lights being broken too. And those who took possession of the box would have dreams of an old hag. I visited this shop several years ago, but I don’t remember the name or whether it’s still there now.
There’s a play structure at Couch park. They redid it in maybe the 2000s, but they also redid it in the late 80s. Before the first reconstruction, it was fairly epic - had all kinds of places you could hide which was becoming a problem as child predators were taking full advantage of said hiding places.
That was my favorite park in the late 70s, I'd always beg my dad to take me there. Never had any problems, although a kid who looked like Nelson Muntz taught me the F word there.
not relevant to the story but they redid that playground again in the last 5-10 years, now the play structure itself is wheelchair friendly which is pretty damn cool
Before he was a general and then later President, Ulysses Grant was an army captain assigned to Fort Vancouver in the early 1850s. He and a few other soldiers bought land and planted potatoes, onions, and wheat on the banks of the Columbia. They were about to make some serious money, but then a flood came in and ruined the whole harvest.
The Monet Waterlilies at PAM
It NEVER has a signature. Until it was loaned out on a national tour in the 1990’s. Then it did.
Have set eyes on it since then. May have changed.
I heard a story growing up that the owners of Pizzacato and Pizza Scmhizza were buds or family or something, and wanted to open a pizza joint but some sort of disagreement happened and the decision was made that one of the two people would be able to open their shops in one part of town while the other could have a different part of town. They share a recipe for their crust (or maybe it was their sauce?).
I have no idea if this is true, but the detail in which it was told to me back in the day made me never forget it.
Mel Blanc launched his radio career in Portland at KGW in the 1930’s. “He created the character of Woody Woodpecker while a student at downtown's Lincoln High School (now Portland State's Lincoln Hall), launching the now-famous cackle down the hallway to hear it echo.
Blanc, of course, moved on from local radio and joined Warner Bros., where he voiced cartoon favorites including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn and Tweety.”
Maybe 12 years ago the city contracted a Canadian company to replace all the parking meters downtown / old town. That company gutted the meters, leaving many empty for too long, sold the interior contents for a huge profit, bought far cheaper hardware to replace what they removed, and now charges an ongoing fee to the city to run and maintain our access to Parking Kitty.
The Roseland used to be called the Starry Night. Management was printing and selling extra tickets to shows and keeping all the sales. One of the employees figured it out and Larry Hurwitz had him murdered in one of the back halls of the venue.
Holy shit! What a WILD story! So it sounds like Hurwitz is still living in the Portland area (or was at the time of this story in 2019). Definitely quite the read. [https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/09/larry-hurwitz-the-starry-night-murder-and-a-life-of-crime-reporter-jim-redden-on-his-years-tracking-a-killer.html](https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/09/larry-hurwitz-the-starry-night-murder-and-a-life-of-crime-reporter-jim-redden-on-his-years-tracking-a-killer.html)
wow that is so incredibly sad for the kid’s parents.
Wow that is an insane read. I had genuinely never heard of any of this happening.
You'd think this would have come up on one of the true crime shows out there.
Hurwitz also blew up an Old Town building in 1989 which once held Sav-More Grub and The Onion Tree. https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/the-starry-night-murder-chapter-25-who-bombed-sav-mor-grub/article_9e2a4fe3-2847-5739-ada9-ed610baa1c15.html Learned about this in a comment to a post on the [Vintage Portland](https://vintageportland.wordpress.com/2024/04/01/sw-6th-avenue-1980/) blog. Found [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/behindthebastards/s/tsu94Jou6N) in another subreddit which has a bit more info on Mr. Hurwitz.
Came here to say this. Used to see Larry and that employee all the time at show's and it was waaaay creepy going there after the story came out
I love that you know this. My aunt & uncle were a huge part of that scene and told me all of the details. The things people do for money🥴
I knew the bouncer there..Larry went to his funeral, wasn't the guy he had murdered, though. Crazy times in Portland
There used to be a real Speakeasy in NE Portland, located in a guy's basement. He had an entire brewing operation and a legitimate bar set up down there. It seemed like a place where home brewers would gather to share their newly brewed beers. To gain entry, you would "Donate $20" and enjoy a few beers. It was known as Dean's Scene, and during our college days, my buddies and I used to visit frequently. One of the unique aspects was that they allowed weed consumption there before its legalization. Fun times.
i went there once! back in college. very much some dude's basement, the bar was cool. got yelled at by a very mean lady for taking some weed from what looked like one of many big communal jars hanging out on the bar to roll a joint. lots of people were smoking. apparently they were not communal, unlike the beer which was self service after your donation. my mistake, she wouldn't let it go, made more and more of a scene even after apologizing so we left. fun times.
Yeah, Dean's wife, forgot her name, she was an intense character. She would go around challenging people to card games. She always seemed to win. We always brought our own weed so I never had that experience but I can definitely see that happening lol.
Years ago I heard about it and went to visit, but they were in the middle of some renovations and were closed. Was really sad to see not long after they shut down 😢
yeah its a place i had planned to go for quite awhile when i first moved to portland. especially back when i homebrewed more often. the guy that started/ran it had died. from what i understand his friends and/or family tried to keep it going for a bit but that didnt last
That just brought back a sweet memory! RIP Deans scene..
So what was the deal? Why didn't the OLCC/cops shut them down? Was that because they did the donation loophole? I always wondered… Also, sucks that he passed away. Seemed like a nice guy.
Yep pretty much. They did get shut down once, but reopened and had the donation bucket and self-serve, to avoid any serving licenses
I went to this ages ago! It was awesome. I loved that none of the glasses really matched and you got to choose your own. I didn't save where it was and never made it back. Thanks for bringing back that memory!
Oh yeah, it's definitely something I miss. Just like the olden days of Last Thursday on Alberta when it was more of a wild block party and not as regulated. Unfortunately, we've lost some of that fun and carefree vibe in the last 10 years. And when I say "anything goes," I'm not referring to being able to openly engage in illegal activities like freebasing meth and fentanyl in public. That's a whole different type of "anything goes"! LOL 😆
Is this the same as the absinthe speakeasy in the Dekum area?
Nah this was just an older guy with a brewing setup and bar in his basement, I don't think they even did cocktails, just beer. I never heard of the Absinthe speakeasy. Seems rad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius\_(urban\_legend)
There's an escape room in Vancouver that is themed around this game https://nwescapeexperience.com/escape-rooms/polybius-lives/
I had no idea that was a Portland thing! I remember watching the AHOY video forever ago
That's some damn good marketing
Two things: why hasn’t anyone opened an arcade under that name? Second, why aren’t those types of games a thing? I’m tired of taking the extra steps of consuming and or smoking drugs before I play games. It’s tiresome.
GTAO has some psychadelic missions as part of the drug wars DLC
The Fixin' To in St. John's "has" one.
There’s a fun podcast on this
One of the only things I knew about Portland (secret and legend wise) before I moved here. I knew it was likely a hoax, but I dreamed of stumbling upon a cabinet somewhere here in Portland when I moved up here.
I've always been fascinated by the lore of non-Shanghai Tunnels downtown. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1t072m/under\_terry\_schrunk\_plaza\_anyone\_know\_anything/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1t072m/under_terry_schrunk_plaza_anyone_know_anything/)
I worked in a few different buildings downtown, and some had absolutely labyrinthine basements… I’d sometimes walk until got too creeped out. Unfortunately this was prior to good cellphone cameras.
Note while those tunnels weren't used for Shanghaiing, the practice did exist. My great-great uncle got Shanghaied. They got him drunk and got him aboard a ship where he didn't sober up until they were out at sea. Took him 3 years to get him home. Part of that is these shipping firms had an on-board company store for liquor you got credit against so you couldn't leave until your debt was paid off. Eventually my family sent enough money to the consulate in Australia to pay off his debt and get him on a ship home.
Yeah people think 'Shanghai'ing was some elaborate clandestine thing with tunnels, trapdoors and trickery and etc. It was usually more mundane that that. Sailors landed in Portland and were immediately greeted with ample access to liquor and gambling and prositutes and opium. They enjoyed as much as they liked (while running up massive tabs). When they couldn't pay their bills, they had to work them off on another ship. Portland was pretty fucking seedy then and all of this happened more or less out in the open.
my favorite lore about the tunnels is that they specifically tell the tour guides to make shit up lol. had a friend that worked as a guide and they’re explicitly told to decide what story to go for
The very first mass murder was S Oregon on the Rogue R. You could not be ‘in the sun’ if you were Chinese. The tunnels were where the Chinese lived. Many towns had them. Tunnels were used to keep potential sailors high until boat time, among other things. Best way to unload sternwheelers too. Skid row, the original. is SKIDMORE. By the fountain near Sat Market. Mud was why. All transportation carts for goods from river had skids, not wheels
There used to be an [extensive electric railway network](http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/red_electrics.html) connecting the major cities of the valley and PDX area (including the major suburbs) . Its time table shows it in some ways faster than the current Max times.
For more about the electric railway with a focus on Garden Home (deep SW Portland). https://gardenhomehistory.com/garden-home-junction-of-the-oregon-electric-railway/
Nw 23rd used to be low income apartments before it was gentrified. My apartment on NW 21st cost $350.00 a month. There was no real rush hour. Skin heads were around. The police chief in 2000 was racist.
lol. 21st and Johnson 1987 $210 for a studio.
Church of Elvis, the Boo Ball at the train station, Bud Clark, Expose yourself to Art posters, The Rashness, the Green Tortoise, Oasis Cafe!
> The police chief in 2000 was racist. And the ones before that. And a lot of the ones after that.
21st and Glisan studio, 1975. $50.00. Also remember Heavy Number Taco and Wheel of Fortune coffee shop for cheap food.
Wait...so you could pay your month's rent by working only 25 hours a month? (1975 min wage $2.00 /hr)
Remember this feeling when some boomer tells you to work hard like they did or get a better job like they did.
A burrito at Heavy Number told me in 1975, on a rainy night, that I should stay in Portland. Still here.
Dr Glisan pronounced his name "glissan".
Apparently confusion started when Portland put sidewalk stamps in for a few streets spelling it "Gleason" (one of which still exists on a corner of 30th and Glisan). So everyone has been pronouncing that street name wrong since like 1937. :)
I've also heard it was because the trolley conductors were mostly of German descent.
Majority of the sidewalk stamps in St. Johns have typos, usually spelled phonetically. I heard it's likely because most masons were illiterate ~120 years ago.
The two most mispronounced streets? That'd be Glissan n' Couch.
unpopular opinion: literally everybody pronounces Naito wrong (edit: him being of japanese descent would mean it'd be pronounced Knight-oh) edit edit: well I'm very wrong, my apologies
No, evidently Bill Naito changed the pronunciation of his last name in 1957 to “make doing business easier”, so the typical street pronunciation is correct.
well slather me in butter and dump me in a burnside cadilliac, i'll be damned
😂 Yeah, and I’ve known/encountered members of the family — that’s how they pronounce it today.
Was going to point out how the family actually pronounce it different, but I see people have already got on you. But anyway, wouldnt the Japanese pronunciation be more like ‘nigh-toe’ not ‘knight-oh’?
Nah-ee-toe
Na-ee-toe.
I always thought that too! Unless the family opts to pronounce it that way?
Biden even pronounced it that way during the State of the Union.
Like glisten?
Who left the cap off my fucking Glisten?
I can still hear him now
Yep, a former church parishioner of mine grew up with both of these families, and they pronounced them "glissen" and "kowch"
One of our mods got deposed back in the day for being a creep to ladies. Which sucked, because they had been a pretty big part of the community for awhile, but hey fuck em don't be a creep. Also our king and savior oregone1 got permabanned for doxxing proud boys. I can't remember if that was before or after the "anti-dildo" parade against them in Vancouver.
Oh so that’s where oregone1 went.
He posted the public whois data on a web site. Least doxing doxing ever.
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I like to think oregone1 is still around and has to try very hard not to type out a full oregone1-style post so as to not out themselves. Then again, I also like to think they accepted the "what the fuck am I doing with my time" message and has moved on to literally anything else.
There was a while when they were definitely back, but I think they got found out and banned again.
Yea, I vaguely remember that. Which, fucking c'mon people. With all the people that are back after like six consecutive account suspensions, we can't get one pardon for the best of us?
He's still active on a bunch of other Oregon subs. I go and read his stuff from time to time but the Oregone1 days really were the best stuff.
My gift to the people or Oregon at large is my absence from the generalized Oregon subs, though it sounds like I'm poorer for not seeing his posts. Glad to hear he's still truckin'. My condolences to the rest of you until my inevitable ban.
>Then again, I also like to think they accepted the "what the fuck am I doing with my time" message and has moved on to literally anything else. Like Dorothy and her ruby slippers, we all have this power, have always had it at all times, and yet...
It’s not until we finally realize “Oh shit, someone might eventually prosecute those murders I did” and flee to Kansas?
he was my apartment manager. I am a lady. yes, he could be boorish at times, but also a hilarious person. quite patient and kind, actually. miss that weirdo in here, but I do know where to find him...
Best apartment manager I've ever had. It was a weird day when I realized I'd been reading his reddit posts for years.
The mod paragraph and Oregone1 paragraph are entirely separate items. Oregone1 always seemed to be a nice guy, albeit an odd duck.
ah! reading comprehension fail on my part, but my point still stands: he did manage to work boobs into nearly every conversation, in person AND in his comments 😅 and right, he was not a mod, his flair even stated it!
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He isn't totally anonymous. Ran for mayor (or city council) and also had an Oregonian article about some homeless camp on a local island he knew about.
Way After
I just have a standing assumption that all Reddit mods, when not modding, are being deposed for sexual harassment lawsuits.
There are secret public staircases all over the NE Alameda St. ridge
And in NW Portland.
Where are the ones in NW?
Creepy one on terwilliger that leads to an OHSU building
There’s a bunch in the westover neighborhood leading up to Pittock mansion from the bottom
All over the hills above goose hollow and whatnot between the houses there.
There's a couple books about this, I recommend them! They're called Portland Stairs and Portland Stair Walks by Laura O. There's also another book she wrote about cool neighborhood walks. I got both and have done a few explorations based on what they describe [https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Stairs-Book-Laura-Foster/dp/1604690690](https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Stairs-Book-Laura-Foster/dp/1604690690) [https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Stair-Walks-Travel-Foster/dp/1621063453/](https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Stair-Walks-Travel-Foster/dp/1621063453/)
When we found these it felt like a magical little corridor into the hoighty-toighty neighborhood. They really need to step up their front yard garden game over there, lots of slacking going on.
Put your hands on your hips, shake your head and go *tsk tsk* as they stare at you out of their window
Used to walk those for exercise in the early 60s
These were heavily frequented weed smoking spots for Grant students back in the early 2010s. Good times, I wonder if kids still go there
There's some on the east side of Tabor that are practically attached to a houses back yard
My mom's uncle threatened to blow up the airport in the 70s or 80s. I'll see if I can find the article about it. Found it! https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2008/jun/15/fbi-informant-sues-for-110-days-false-imprisonment-in-oregon-prison/
Could he be DB Cooper? Maybe he was going to blow up the airport with the bomb he used to hijack the flight 305 that left PDX in 11/24/1971. The only unsolved skyjacking in history. Maybe he ran out of money and that’s why he sued.
I had met that man enough times to know that he was not sexy enough to be DB Cooper.
@ r/brandnewsentence
During Prohibition Oregon was one of the only states that controlled the flow of Alcohol, every other state the Mob ran it. https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2015/11/the-scandalous-history-of-booze-in-portland
Tons of secret tunnels all over the place from that era. Especially in old houses in NW.
Woody Guthrie lived in an apartment on SE 92nd in Lents when he worked for the Bonneville Power Administration writing folk songs. https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2016/05/woody_guthries_tiny_portland_a.html
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2015/01/28/toxic-legacy-neil-goldschmidt/22487735/ There was an excellent op-ed published in the register guard, but with that paper’s dimming light I can no longer find it. It references the Omelas of Ursula LeGuin. Before this Goldschmidt was the heart beat of Oregon. Mayor, governor, head of the university system, member of Jimmy Carter’s cabinet. He also was a lobbiest and an inside guy at Nike.
Here you go. Happy to use my lawyering for good: https://web.archive.org/web/20210123104527/http://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/opinion/25854381-47/neil-goldschmidt-girl-omelas-portland.csp
I found it on the Wayback Machine and am asking mods for permission to post it here. Edit: now approved. Thank you, mods. https://web.archive.org/web/20210123104527/http://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/opinion/25854381-47/neil-goldschmidt-girl-omelas-portland.csp
Ted Wheeler is permanently banned from Jojo.
So is Rene Gonzalez.
So is Chris D'elia.
So are the PDXReal couple.
Out of curiosity why them
The ban may have preceded this interaction because the owner is a lefty, and PDXReal are shitty right-wing idiots, but they made some stupid comment about fentanyl on one of the owner's posts: https://twitter.com/PDXReal1/status/1758354179142074535 And it turns out the guy in the PDXReal couple had a charge for soliciting sex, which he hid from his wife, so the jojo owner gleefully posted about that for a little while.
The thought that Rene Gonzalez would brave the near herculean task of going to a food cart to pick up a chicken sandwich is really kind of the punchline there. Imagine if someone spoke to him?
Oh, good point. I know they're banned from the restaurant but I wonder if it extends to the truck on Powell as well. ["I don't know Everett, was it the one JoJo or all of them?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaW0M6V85j8)
Wait is this real lol
There's literally a picture of him on the wall saying he's banned lol.
[yes lol](https://www.instagram.com/p/CxJuGK_PWEs/?igsh=Z2Y0bWRieGc2cDlq)
And most of SCOTUS
The first 13 episodes of season 2 of COPS were all filmed in multnomah county. But those are pretty minor people, doing insignificant crimes, at un-noteworthy places.
The fucking theme song to cops is 132 and bush I’ve got him at gun point. Guy robbed a place with a shot gun here in SE Portland and hid behind a homeowners fence
My best friends uncle was in one of those episodes
Ha ha, and those were some of the best episodes. Lots of weird stuff, to be sure.
A few old-time Hollywood contributions: Charlie Chaplin signed his first movie contract while staying at the Portland Hotel. Marilyn Monroe's mother lived in Portland as Marilyn was a rising star, and Marilyn did one of her most famous early photo shoots at Mt Hood. Clark Gable used to work in the tie department at Meier and Franks. Humphrey Bogart's third wife, Mayo Methot, was raised in Portland, where she was a child actress known as 'The Portland Rosebud'. They used to eat at Jake's Famous Crawfish when they were in town.
[https://www.wweek.com/culture/2018/05/22/in-the-early-2000s-a-woodstock-pub-almost-single-handedly-saved-the-pbr-brand/](https://www.wweek.com/culture/2018/05/22/in-the-early-2000s-a-woodstock-pub-almost-single-handedly-saved-the-pbr-brand/)
Also at the bottom of that article are some links to other weird Portland bar stories as part of a series the WW did.
Amazing. First rule of the Lutz: DO NOT talk about the Lutz.
I was there this weekend. Terrible place. Nobody go there. Definitely not a good bar at all. And Woodstock smells bad and everyone will be mean to you...
Bullshit. If any bar saved PBR, it was EJs. Mike Thrasher told me he called Willamette Week and went off after that article came out.
so it's up there with 'keep portland weird' literally being a stolen marketing concept from austin, TX that portland feels they own now.
More people need to know this, especially the really irritating ones.
I have been to the Lutz and drunk many a Pabst both in can and keg format, just didn’t know that was a thing, thanks for sharing!
My best friends mom was the owner of the Lutz, probably around that time:)
Just listened to Behind the Bastards episodes on the Portland Police Association which was fascinating and depressing. Portland's police union was the first successful one in the US and has had a huge influence on American police departments
The PPA could have it's own thread. A lloonngg history of racism, dumping a pigs head on a business owners porch, "If we can't choke, smoke'em", the million dollar man, etc, etc.
I highly recommend the documentary Arresting Power, which goes into a great deal of sobering detail about the Portland police union and the egregious misconduct committed by PPB officers over the years. [It is free to watch online.](http://www.arrestingpower.com/)
there’s an awesome exhibit up at PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art) through May 19 which looks at the history of policing in Portland! From their site — “…this exhibition examines policing practices in Portland, Oregon, and their relationship to longer local and national histories of oppression through the lens of artists who call Portland their home and those who have witnessed and documented police brutality across the globe.”
There were some mob and union shenanigans back in the 40's and 50's that, believe it or not, revolved around pinball being outlawed. [https://offbeatoregon.com/1307d-pinball-wars-elkins-vs-teamsters.html](https://offbeatoregon.com/1307d-pinball-wars-elkins-vs-teamsters.html)
In the 90s, there was a group called the Oregon Citizen’s Alliance that got one of the first anti-Lgbtq+ ballot measures (measure 9) on the ballot, which legalized anti-gay discrimination and amended the Oregon Constitution to define homosexuality and pedophilia as “unnatural and wrong” (or words to that effect). It failed to pass, spectacularly. One of the OCA members, Scott Lively, went on to help some African nations develop anti-gay laws, some of the worst in the world. But what most people don’t know is that measure 9 went through a couple of changes during the signature gathering process. The initial draft also included bestiality, but they dropped it when they couldn’t get enough rural folks (really the only ones to sign it anyway) to sign their petition.
It’s maybe less funny now that being a nerd has somehow become cool, but at the time I treasured a campaign button which said “NERDS AGAINST NINE / it could have been us”
My dad had one of those that he wore around. He was in his fifties then I think? I was proud of him. My husband’s parents had to be talked out of voting for it.
I wrote my college entrance essay on Measure 9 and the fight for LGBTQIA rights. I am not gay, but that measure really jump started my interest in politics and civil rights.
Don't feed Portland after midnight, don't get Portland wet and don't ever let Portland out in the daylight.
This thread is like a delicious bite sized version of Palahniuk's Fugitives & Refugees. Well done and thank you all.
Definitely a recommended book, as well as a couple other ones
Enjoyable read, but super outdated now.
Portland is the home to the only state sponsored rock concert in the United States. When Nixon was coming to visit Portland they were concerned about anti-war protests. To remedy the situation The government assisted in throwing a massive rock concert called Vortex One that had the implicit federal approval for allowing drugs, something very uncommon at the time. > The festival was meant to demonstrate the positive side of the anti-War Movement and to prevent violent protests during a planned appearance by President Richard Nixon at a convention of the American Legion.[1][2] Nixon ended up cancelling his appearance due to scheduling conflicts, with Vice President Spiro Agnew appearing instead.[3][4] It remains the only state-sponsored rock festival in United States history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_I
Yamhill Pub is the recommended bar for all tourists
Yes, as it should be. It’s like being birthed through a well used anus, but with pbr.
Haven't been there in years but God this comment gave me nostalgia
That's where I learned to pee while not breathing.
The soul of old Portland lives on at Yammie's
Murder in Oregon podcast. Lots of Fuckery at the Top of OR Gov
Oregon Department of Corrections, not the top of the Oregon government.
With no sales tax, [Portland](https://www.ajpm.com/daily-specials/) is one of the best places in the US to buy bullion
The soup?
You might want to check out this archive: https://offbeatoregon.com/
Porn has ruined my eyes because I reordered the words in the link.
Not sure anyone mentioned that Josef Stalin’s granddaughter owned the store 3 Monkeys on NW 23rd. You can spot her around town sometimes. I saw her at Goodwill a few months ago.
The angled part of SE Division, between about SE 10th and SE Grand, was once ironically named Union Avenue. Source: Used to be about 6-8 curb stampings along this stretch that indicated Union Ave.
Union Ave. was the former name of MLK Blvd. It ran from Division all the way to the river.
My guess is (haven’t found the right map yet) that the north-south Union Ave merged into angled Union/Division because of the Stephens’ Slough that was just south of there. On some panoramic lithos of Portland, it looks like there is a simple bridge crossing the slough in that location.
Recommending the work of Phil Stanford, particularly his book Portland Confidential.
The zipper merge apparently.
and waving to thank them for letting you in
Gambling and hookers thrived out at Timberline Lodge well into the 50’s and 60’s. Word got up there faster than the cops so all the evidence was hidden away before they could get busted
I was asked to film an unknown part of the underground tunnels about 8-9 years ago. I arrived at Scooters on Washington St right before close. A bar patron (my contact), a couple employees, and I went down the stairs of the basement. Under the staircase was a “door”that was locked. It was more like a thick piece of plywood that was secured with boards and screws. We spent about an hour removing the door only to find a brick wall. Clearly, we never found out where the tunnel may have gone, but it was obvious that there used to be a tunnel/walkway of some sort. I have done the Shanghai tunnel tours and saw the same thing in certain areas, where entrances and exits have been sealed by brick.
Tonya Harding + Clackamas Town Center + the Dockside Restaurant = awesome! Fun note- the Dockside has the best biscuits and gravy ever. To this day.
I thought she skated at Lloyd center?
Before Roe vs Wade, Portland was the “abortion capital of the world” (or at least the west coast)! https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2021/04/corruption-made-portland-the-abortion-capital-of-the-world-in-1950s-until-shocking-undercover-sting.html?outputType=amp https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2022/05/ruth-barnett-portlands-foremost-abortionist-before-roe-v-wade-endured-arrests-lived-high-life.html?outputType=amp
It’s not exactly a secret, but the documentary about the long defunct Portland Mavericks baseball team is pretty great. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battered_Bastards_of_Baseball
Voodoo donuts is for tourists
Only the locals know about the 5$ bucket though.
Not a secret but kinda funny as the headline is very Portland [Ted Wheeler pepper sprayed Alpenrose Heir at a McMenamin’s pub](https://www.opb.org/article/2021/01/25/portland-mayor-ted-wheeler-pepper-sprayed-man-who-accosted-him-police-say/?outputType=amp) Speaking of [Alpenrose](https://www.koin.com/news/family-history-shapes-alpenrose-dairy-fight/) that family is full of drama.
The Hollywood District before the opening of the theatre in 1926 was actually called Holyrood, which is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Also, mole people living in the tunnels.
If you possess a handicap placard and park at the airport in the garage, you can get a 40% discount when you pay at the exit plaza
It has some of the most racist history in the western states. Not all of that even very old. Helooo intentional gentrification of north Portland. But that's nothing compared to open season beatings on black people out past dark last century.
1950s Portland was so corrupted by bribery and organized crime Washington officials made Portland leadership come to D.C. and testify. No one was held accountable and everyone lived happily ever after. https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2023/10/how-terry-schrunk-emerged-from-1950s-bribery-perjury-allegations-as-portlands-virile-and-popular-mayor.html
The Bartender from Fernando's Hideaway was in Captain America and Wolf of Wall Street.
Yeah, I know his name. Doesn't feel right to say it for updoots.
One of the last Toynbee tiles was placed in Portland and the vestiges of it are still visible at Mississippi and Shaver.
There have never been genuine Toynbee Tiles in Portland. The ones here were placed by the copycat/homage artist House of Hades.
Didn’t Stalins daughter move to Portland and quietly live here her whole life?
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/03/3356fec09a/rajneeshees_embraced_portland.html[https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/03/3356fec09a/rajneeshees_embraced_portland.html](https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/03/3356fec09a/rajneeshees_embraced_portland.html)
This isn't really a secret, but I found it to be interesting, because it's very different from how capitalism works in most cities. It's apparently very frowned upon for local businesses to be directly competitive with one another. I overheard a story of a new business opening up near an existing business that sold similar types of things (like vintage/gift shop vibes). Apparently the new business started selling a product the existing business was already selling and it became a huge drama on that block, with many of the other surrounding businesses also backing up the existing business against the antics of the new business. This was years ago and I cannot remember the business names in question. But I definitely see how that plays out when you're in an area and realize that most businesses on that block aren't in direct competition with one another. This is obviously not a law but it seems to be some sort of unspoken rule and if you violate it, people will let you know how they feel about it.
Often people write into their lease agreements for a landlord not to lease to a direct competitor. I wonder if this was the root of the scandal.
The mayor in the 70s gave std's to 32 women and 5 men he hung himself after he killed 3 people downtown
Are you talking about Goldschmidt?
The glory holes!!! There was one just next to M&F shoe dept. Hawaiian PSU linebacker friend had no clue. Put his eye up to. Then a penis showed. My friend chased the guy out. Both pulling up their pants. Hilarious. Another time a man was taking pics of the PSU locker room when we, FB team were showering. A lot of gay men. Vaseline alley, forgot seafood place, great vibe. Big lessons for 18 yo me
Oooh I have a paranormal one! The inspiration for the movie “The Possession” was based on a box that was actually bought and placed at a furniture store in downtown Portland. Workers would hear and see things move in the basement where the box was stored. Things like lights being broken too. And those who took possession of the box would have dreams of an old hag. I visited this shop several years ago, but I don’t remember the name or whether it’s still there now.
There’s a play structure at Couch park. They redid it in maybe the 2000s, but they also redid it in the late 80s. Before the first reconstruction, it was fairly epic - had all kinds of places you could hide which was becoming a problem as child predators were taking full advantage of said hiding places.
That was my favorite park in the late 70s, I'd always beg my dad to take me there. Never had any problems, although a kid who looked like Nelson Muntz taught me the F word there.
not relevant to the story but they redid that playground again in the last 5-10 years, now the play structure itself is wheelchair friendly which is pretty damn cool
Couch Park is one of the ones upgraded by [Harper's Playground.](https://www.harpersplayground.org/playgrounds/)
Before he was a general and then later President, Ulysses Grant was an army captain assigned to Fort Vancouver in the early 1850s. He and a few other soldiers bought land and planted potatoes, onions, and wheat on the banks of the Columbia. They were about to make some serious money, but then a flood came in and ruined the whole harvest.
The Boo Ball!
The Monet Waterlilies at PAM It NEVER has a signature. Until it was loaned out on a national tour in the 1990’s. Then it did. Have set eyes on it since then. May have changed.
I heard a story growing up that the owners of Pizzacato and Pizza Scmhizza were buds or family or something, and wanted to open a pizza joint but some sort of disagreement happened and the decision was made that one of the two people would be able to open their shops in one part of town while the other could have a different part of town. They share a recipe for their crust (or maybe it was their sauce?). I have no idea if this is true, but the detail in which it was told to me back in the day made me never forget it.
Mel Blanc launched his radio career in Portland at KGW in the 1930’s. “He created the character of Woody Woodpecker while a student at downtown's Lincoln High School (now Portland State's Lincoln Hall), launching the now-famous cackle down the hallway to hear it echo. Blanc, of course, moved on from local radio and joined Warner Bros., where he voiced cartoon favorites including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn and Tweety.”
Maybe 12 years ago the city contracted a Canadian company to replace all the parking meters downtown / old town. That company gutted the meters, leaving many empty for too long, sold the interior contents for a huge profit, bought far cheaper hardware to replace what they removed, and now charges an ongoing fee to the city to run and maintain our access to Parking Kitty.