Half Life




A visit to Old Portland Hardware and Architectural on SE 41st and Division is a chance to view the unexpected re-emergence of a cache from one of Portland's vanished architectural treasures; the Ladd Block (1881) knocked down in a storm of controversy in 1965. The story of its demolition and the dispersal of its pieces is one of reverence and disregard, back and forth, played out over the course of a half century.


"Among the edifices particularly worthy of mention are: The three story brick building on the northwest corner of First and Columbia, for Mr. W.S. Ladd. Special pains were taken by the architect, Mr. Justus Krumbein, to make the building equal if not superior in point of strength to any in the city." -The Oregonian, January 1 1882.



The Ladd Block, drawing by, and courtesy of William Hawkins III.

William Sargent Ladd's excursion into what is now called mixed use development was on Columbia, five blocks east of his mansion, and First, nine blocks south of his Ladd & Tilton Bank. On the ground level was space for four retail stores. The second floor held four large residences, laid out in the "French flat" system, each with two bedrooms, a parlor, dining room, kitchen, pantry, bathroom, closets and a separate staircase and exit. The top floor was divided into single rooms and suites for hotel purposes. The exterior was styled "modern Gothic" with cast-iron and tin architectural details and a menagerie of wolves, lions and bears standing watch on the upper levels. Sturdy, state of the art and fireproof, the Oregonian anticipated that it would still be standing when Portland's population reached five hundred thousand people.

In 1891, a hotel, the Ladd House, operated on the upper floors, offering furnished rooms for five dollars a piece and housekeeping rooms for three. In a possible reflection of First street's change in status over the prior decade as downtown moved west, its proprietor, Mary E. Baker, was accused of operating a brothel there in 1895. The hotel closed soon after.


"The Ladd House has the reputation of being a "graft house," a rendezvous for petty thieves and criminal of the lowest type, and particularly as an abiding place for slaves of morphine, cocaine and opium. Worse still, the officers say, that women of the lowest type resort there with male outcasts of society, and together they hold orgies that beggar description." -The Oregonian, April 6 1895.


A second hotel, the Villa House, opened on the premises a decade later. Its proprietor, Andrew C. Wald, was succeeded in 1914 by Tojiro Haji, the first of four Japanese-American hoteliers, followed by F.M. Isoshima (1920 to 1926), George K. Kawaguchi (1926 to 1930) and H.K. Uyesugi (1930 to 1942). There is likely a significance to the year of his departure.

Over the years various business occupied the store fronts on the ground floor, such as Sam Margulies's Saloon (circa 1911), Victors Cash Grocery (circa 1916) and the American Chili Parlors (circa 1928). In the 1950s a second hand store occupied the corner storefront at First and Columbia.




The Ladd Block in the 1950s. -Marion Dean Ross photo, Building Oregon Collection, University of Oregon.





Detail of above, of the second hand store on First and Columbia. On the once ubiquitous second hand business in the old downtown, Sam Raddon Jr. in the 1946 book Portland Vignettes, wrote: "There is color and atmosphere still, in the district that has seen better times, where the shop-keeper and his friend may sit in the shade of a summer afternoon, and talk of the affairs that effect their own little world. Where business comes from no one pretends to know. But year in and year out the routine goes on. The dust of a generation may seem to have accumulated on stock and trade, but occasionally, at least someone must sell, and someone else must buy."


The Villa House closed in 1963. For the next two years the building, owned by the Boyd Coffee Company, sat vacant. The stage was set for one of Portland's most notorious episodes of historic desecration.




Drawing in the Oregonian, February 20 1965.


On February 19 1965 the Portland Development Commission released an "area guide plan" for the blocks bounded by SW Front, 4th, Market and Salmon, immediately north of the South Auditorium Urban Renewal project. Unlike the scorched earth approach pursued with South Auditorium, which stripped the district even of its street grid, the "guide plan" proposed some rehabilitation in the existing neighborhood. Specifically cited for renovation were the "ancient iron front buildings" the Ladd and Monastes Blocks, on the west side of First, between Columbia and Jefferson.

The PDC's suggestion spurred the Boyd Coffee Company, whose office and plant bordered the buildings to the west, to contract with the Western Wrecking Company, to quickly demolish the structures.



"Fearing harassment by city agencies, or by concerned citizens, the owners of Boyd Coffee Company, who wanted to make room for a new warehouse, opted for the "midnight disappearance" strategy of demolition. Almost overnight, the half block Ladd building became a paved parking lot." -The Grand Era of Cast-Iron Architecture in Portland Oregon by William Hawkins III.


In response to the public outcry over the demolition, Mrs. V.B. Younger, secretary-treasurer of the Boyd Coffee Company, stated the city had ordered the buildings be bought up to code or demolished. Architects had been consulted and the cost to remodel the buildings was found to be prohibitive. She noted that the drawing (above) that had appeared in the Oregonian was for dramatic example, not to be taken literally.

"There is no condemnation order against the buildings." -Portland Mayor Terry Shrunk in the Oregonian, March 12 1965.

"I resent the fact that the owner appears to passing the onus to the city, by claiming he was ordered to raise the buildings." -Francis J. Murnane, Portland Art Commission in the Oregonian, March 12 1965.





Wolf head ornament from the upper level of the Ladd Block, donated to the Architectural Heritage Center by Christopher Boyd.


The long half life of the Ladd Block began when Bob Hazen, President of the Benj. Franklin Savings and Loan, was walking by the demolition site when he noted its metal pieces. With no particular use in mind, he asked a workman if he could purchase some of them. A price of three thousand dollars was agreed upon. They were removed to a warehouse for storage.

Ten years later, a use for the pieces was found when the Benj. Franklin Savings and Loan purchased a newly completed office tower, across the street on First from the site of the Ladd Block, for its corporate headquarters. On the top floor Bob Hazen outfitted a luxurious executive suite that utilized the Ladd Block's fixtures.

To create his 19th century haven on the 19th floor, Hazen consulted with Portland preservationist Eric Ladd to create a most unlikely office space, complete with a stained glass ceiling from the Washington Hotel, made surplus after most of its lobby was converted into courtyard, and a stairwell mural of the Ladd Block by William Hawkins (from the drawing at the beginning of this post). Decorative tin and ironwork were re-purposed as book cases to surprisingly good effect. A statue of Benjamin Franklin, and a receptionist dressed as Dolly Madison completed the eclectic, if somewhat surreal, scene.





The 19th Floor, with ceiling from the Washington Hotel and a column from the Ladd Block.





Two years later, in 1977, a column from the Ladd Block, from the Portland's Friends of Cast Iron Architecture's collection, was mounted in the new pedestrian arcade at Ankeny Square which showcased the area's cast iron heritage.


When the Benj. Franklin closed in 1990 Bob Hazen's office suite was dismantled with the pieces donated to the Bosco-Milligan Foundation. Some can be seen today in the Architectural Heritage Center's Rebuilding South Portland exhibit.





Ladd Block piece at the Architectural Heritage Center.




The recently removed courtyard installation in the former Benj. Franklin Plaza. Sadly, the whereabouts of the lions are unknown.


Until recently there were remnants of Bob Hazen's cast-iron confection, nearly forgotten, in the 19th floor courtyard and lobby of the building now known at the Umpqua Bank Plaza. It is those pieces that have appeared at Old Portland Hardware after being removed in a recent remodel. Upon being contacted by the project's architect, Bret Hodgert and Scott at Old Portland had very little time to wheel the fixtures, some weighing hundreds of pounds, downstairs to a loading dock, which happily was higher than their flat bed truck.

"When I was a kid, I wanted nothing more to be that archeologist in National Geographic. It was kind of like that." -Bret Hodgert of Old Portland Hardware, on obtaining the Ladd Block pieces from the remodel site.




Bear from the Ladd Block at Old Portland Hardware and Architectural.

For a short time the Ladd Block pieces can be seen in three places: the Architectural Heritage Center, Ankeny Square and Old Portland Hardware. Save for those at AHC their long term status is in flux, as the Old Portland pieces are for sale, and a possible revamp of Ankeny Square, mentioned in 2009, which might replace the current installation with a new twelve columned structure.




Signage at Ankeny Square, this one describing the Ladd Block has deteriorated badly.






A fence, later added to protect the Fire Fighters exhibit, effectively cut the cast-iron display in half.



The situation at Ankeny Square symbolizes Portland's relationship with its past, the seesawing between veneration and neglect, with no way to predict the next swing. Will the revamp, which might include restrooms and a information kiosk ever take place? Will the existing cast iron on the wall be removed to storage after the new arcade, essentially a zero sum game, or will the be refurbished (and hopefully repainted in something other that the odd choice of back)? What of the rest of the trove of cast-iron, owned by the PDC, that is stored under a bridge? Forty-six years after after the loss of one of the last major cast-iron building to be demolished, the questions remain on how to best re-purpose Portland's iron age remnants.





Proposed Ankeny Square revamp. Perhaps a return to Vine Street? -The Portland
Mercury.





First and Columbia, site of the Ladd Block, one of the few surface parking lots lost to new construction.



The Ladd and Monastes Blocks, looking north on First from Columbia in the 1950s. -Marion Dean Ross photo, Building Oregon Collection, University of Oregon.





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High Water!





On Monday, October 17 at the Mission Theater at 7:00pm I will be presenting High Water; Portland and the Flood of 1894 for the Oregon Encyclopedia's History Night.

From the press release:

On May 27, 1894, the rising Willamette River began to flow into the streets of Portland. For one month, Portland, already reeling from the financial crash of 1893, was inundated by floodwaters. City life came to a halt, then adapted with flotillas of small boats for shopping and spindly bridges that spanned between second floors. Fire engines were towed through the streets on barges, and the bars moved onto rafts. The receding water left the city a hellish, stinking mess.

Dan Haneckow explores Portland of the 1890s and its watery ordeal with stunning images of the "Metropolis of the Northwest" as it dealt with one of its greatest challenges.

Hope to see you there!

This is Not Historic




The Jackals welcome in 1989 at Satyricon. -Photo by and courtesy of Thomas Robinson, Historic Photo Archive.



Soon the Hotel West, better known as the Satyricon and the Kiernan building, aka the Dirty Duck, will be demolished.

The loss of Satyricon, a Portland equivalent to the Cavern Club, exposes the weakness of Portland's ability to identify and protect its historic resources. Too often a structure's historic value is determined by the context of when it was built, not its significance acquired over time. A century from now, looking back at the 1980s, Portlanders will likely still have the Portland Building, a structure of architectural significance but of dubious communal connection, but not Satyricon.




NW 6th from Couch, May 1985. Henry's- Working Man's Friend (later the Sav-Mor Grub, blown up along with its neighbor to the north in 1989) Portland Tattoo, Demetri's Grocery, the Hotel West / Satyricon (arched doorway) and the Butte Hotel. The Butte Hotel sign still hangs in place, now hidden by ubiquitous street trees.
-Photo by and courtesy of Thomas Robinson, Historic Photo Archive.



To those who view streetscapes as a form of narrative, Portland will be a poorer place without Satyricon, the Dirty Duck or the Galaxy restaurant at SE 9th and Burnside. Each will be replaced by structures in the approved contemporary du jour, devoid of continuity with their surroundings.





A proposed replacement for the Hotel West / Satyricon. Described in a recent Portland Architecture piece by Fred Leeson, it recreated the general look of its predecessor on the first floor. It was not to be.


In the case of the Hotel West, there was a significant effort to echo and honor the site's history architecturally by the Macdonald Center in their proposed design for the building's replacement.

The plan was found unacceptable by the Portland Design Commission, preferring a slate scraped clean of prior reference for new development. Commissioner David Keltner noted that new buildings can be compatible with, yet clearly differentiated from older neighbors, if not, "You don't have a clear understanding of what's what, and what is historical".

This philosophy, with its built in preference for contemporary forms, risks an antiseptic downtown; a pleasant enough tree-lined doldrum with the spontaneity and depth of a gated community. It dilutes the uniqueness of individual streetscapes in favor of accepted standards bereft of prior local context.




Pearl District refugee?

Nowhere is this better illustrated, to almost comic effect, than by the recent structure beneath the west end of the Burnside Bridge. Located a few yards away from where First, Ankeny and Vine intersected at the Skidmore Fountain, the core of Portland's original cast-iron fronted downtown, it sits like a Design Within Reach catalog backdrop in opposition to the area's historic character. It was a squandered opportunity to utilize cast-iron fixtures already owned by the city that languish in storage.





Last chance to see. The Kiernan building (aka the Dirty Duck) at NW Third and Glisan. -Dan Haneckow photo.


Its arguable that a successful building need only to fulfill its function. Aesthetics, context and history are of secondary importance to owners - but are primary concerns of design and landmark advisory bodies. In Portland, the interplay of the Design Commission, the Historic Landmarks Commission and the City Council have much to say about what is historic and what is acceptable for the city's built environment's design, as illustrated below by the Kiernan building:





The intersection of Third and Glisan, prior to the 1916 construction of the Kiernan building. The earlier structure on the site supported an impressive array of billboards. The Shasta Hotel and the future home to the Blanchet House are to the right. Until 1912 the original Steel Bridge descended to street level on Third, just to the right of the frame.
-Christopher Wilson collection, courtesy of John Klatt, Old Oregon Photos.





The Kiernan building (and Pike Tent and Awning) looking northwest on 3rd in October 1980. Intentionally or not, its low profile echoed that of the prior building on the site. Despite a long, varied history involving numerous communities (see the post Ducking the Questions) it was found by the City Council not to be historic enough for preservation. -Photo by and courtesy of Thomas Robinson, Historic Photo Archive.





The Blanchet House's original plan for the Kiernan building site. Just as the Design Commission rejected the Macdonald Center's plans for the Hotel West / Satyricon on design grounds, the Blanchet House's plan was turned by by Historic Landmark Commission as out of character with the neighborhood.




The design for the Blanchet House that was approved by the Historic Landmarks Commission. While not particularly out of character with its historic surroundings, it is a missed chance to incorporate the original structure, or to have traded out a nearby city owned parking lot and thus live up to Portland's sustainability rhetoric. Still, it avoids the problems of other compromises for the sake of compatibility, such as the base of the Ladd Tower on the Park Blocks, more appropriate to Bridgeport Village than downtown Portland.




The loss of Satyricon and the Kiernan building illustrate the need for a new dialog about what is historic in Portland, not just with an eye to the past, but to what will be held significant in the future. This is especially true in regards to sites pertaining to local culture and communities not traditionally represented by landmarks. In the case of Satyricon, its importance, musically and as a representation of its era, was likely obscured by the fact that it was too recent to be considered history.

It is too late to save, but we can learn from its demise.








The look and feel of a city does not just happen. Do the preferences of the Design Commission reflect that of the public's? Above, the planned replacement for the Galaxy restaurant at SE 9th and Burnside.




Low slung commercial / light industrial buildings like the Kiernan began to appear in what had been known as the North End during the early decades of the 20th century. This building, along the Great Light Way, at Third and Davis still exists, the former home of the Kida Company. Today although much modernized, it could clean up quite nicely.
-Charles Ertz photo, courtesy of Gary Smith, via Marylou Colver.







NW Couch and 6th, the aftermath of the August 24 1989 bombing of Sav-Mor Grub, still an unsolved mystery. The Hotel West / Satyricon is to the far right.
-Photo by and courtesy of Thomas Robinson, Historic Photo Archive.






M99 at Satyricon, April 15 1991.
-Photo by and courtesy of Thomas Robinson, Historic Photo Archive.




Thanks to Christopher Wilson, John Klatt, Gary Smith, Marylou Colver and Thomas Robinson!



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Opening Night



Through the shortest days of 1889 into the first weeks of the new decade, sounds of construction echoed from the blocks around Morrison, between 6th and 7th, as the Hotel Portland and the Marquam building raced toward completion.

The Hotel Portland, re-animated after a six year hiatus by the mercurial George B. Markle, promised to be the city's largest and most luxurious hostelry, while the Marquam Grand Opera House would be its most opulent entertainment venue.

Of the two, the Marquam was further along. As plaster set in the scaffold draped auditorium, its management encouraged speculation that it might be completed by Christmas.




The Marquam building from 6th and Morrison, nearing completion. Judge Philip A. Marquam and his family lived on the opposite corner of the block at 7th and Alder, in a house known for years as "the little New England cottage." -Photo courtesy of Norm Gholston.



Al Hayman, holder of the opera house's concession, also ran the Baldwin and New California theaters in San Francisco. After inspecting the Marquam upon his arrival, he spoke to the Oregonian:

"You can tell the people of Portland that Judge Marquam is going to give them a theater, second to none in the country in point of beauty, comfort and artistic finish. There will not be a bad seat in the house, and the indoor decorative work will be on a scale befitting the general richness of the structure. My efforts will be directed towards giving a series of attractions in keeping with the theater, and of a character to reflect credit upon any first class house in any city of America. I am confident that the result will justify me in doing this, feeling well assured that the public generally, and particularly the better class of people, of Portland will appreciate my labors."


The New Year passed. Anticipation grew as Portlanders looked forward to productions of a quality and scale unprecedented.


"It will be the first time that our people have the opportunity to listen to grand opera by a competent company, and they will no doubt take advantage of the occasion to come out in full force and in full dress."


For the opening, the Emma Juch Grand English Opera Company, fresh from an appearance in Washington D.C. before President Harrison, were to perform a week long engagement of seven operas.




Soprano Emma Juch was born July 4 1865 in Vienna Austria. Her family came to America when she was two. Her debut was in 1883 as Felina, in Mignon, for Her Majesty's Grand Italian Opera company in London. She joined the American Opera Company in 1886. When it disbanded, she formed her own touring company.



As January drew to a close, anticipation turned to ennui as the wait drew on.

"The dramatic world has partaken the same air of dullness and uneventfulness that has characterized the business life of the city in the past week. With the exception of the farce comedy "Rooms to Rent" at the Musee-Theatre and the Georgia Minstrels at the New Park, the last there has been nothing of even moderate interest to attract the amusement seekers." -The Oregonian, January 26 1890.





The New Park Theatre, where the Georgia Minstrels played, on the corner of Washington and Park, seen in a later incarnation as the Empress Theatre.


"Say what one will, there is something interesting and amusing about a good minstrel performance". -The Oregonian, January 26 1890.


At the dawn of the 1890s minstrel shows were in decline but still popular entertainment. Troupes of white performers, their faces blackened with burnt cork, had been portraying stereotypic depictions of African Americans in reviews since the 1840s. The shows featured comedy and songs, largely by white northerners such as Steven Foster, which presented an idealized version of southern slave life with only the most tenuous links to reality.

Richards and Pringle's Georgia Minstrels, opening at the New Park Theatre, were a relative rarity; a successful minstrel show comprised of African American performers.


"As a rule, the colored man cannot illustrate the peculiarities of his race so well as the white man, and for this reason, minstrel companies composed of representatives of the dark skinned race have not been so successful as those composed of their white brethren. But Richards and Pringle's minstrels are of the exceptions."
-The Oregonian, January 26 1890.


Featuring Billy Kersands, singer, comedian and master of "The Essence," a complex forerunner to soft-shoe, the company was nationally popular with both black and white audiences. They had played in Portland before to good reviews. Bound by the conventions and expectations established by white minstrel shows, they performed wearing burnt cork, in blackface.


"The African American Minstrel troupe that captured the larges and most loyal black southern following in the 1890s was Richards and Pringle's Georgia Minstrels".
-From Out of Sight: The Rise of African American Popular Music 1889-1895 by Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff.




Billy Kersands got his start in traveling minstrel troupes in the 1860s. In 1875 he wrote Old Aunt Jemima, a song thought, unlike most minstrel material, to have been drawn from actual slave song origins. In 1889 it was heard by Chris Rutt, who appropriated the name for his newly created brand of pancake mix.

Richards and Pringle's Georgia Minstrels arrived from San Francisco by steamship early on Friday January 24th and immediately went to work to prepare for their opening at the New Park that same night. In addition to Billy Kersands, the sixteen person troupe featured Billy Farrell and Will Eldredge, solo trombonist W.O. Terry, harmoniconist Will G. Huff and Gauze, a female impersonator.

Miss Gauze's presence was not unique. Nick Tosches, in Where Dead Voices Gather, notes that while females in minstrel shows were relatively rare, drag acts were an element from nearly the beginning. He draws a direct line from the female impersonators in minstrel shows, moving on to vaudeville, from where Milton Berle bought the tradition to television in 1948, to Some Like it Hot in 1959, to Ru Paul in the 1990s.




Advertisements for Richards and Pringle's Georgia Minstrels at the New Park, and the Portland Cyclorama in the Oregonian from the previous year.



The Georgia Minstrels played three nights at the New Park, closing on Sunday, January 25th. Two days later, tickets for the opening of the Marquam Grand, set for February 3rd, went on sale at Kohler & Chase's Piano Emporium to a crowd that had waited outside the door since 6am.

"There is no question about the house being ready, as the chairs and fixtures have arrived, the scaffolding is being taken down, the carpets are being laid, and the interior of the theater will be as presentable as though it had been opened for six months". -The Oregonian, January 29 1890.



In actuality the chairs had not arrived. They were delayed in shipment and were not delivered until two days before the scheduled extravaganza. Opening night was pushed back a week. In San Francisco, Al Hayman scrambled to schedule an additional series of performances for the stranded Emma Juch Grand English Opera Company.




On Monday February 10th the doors of the Marquam Grand Opera House opened at last, with a performance of Charles Gounod's Faust, to a capacity crowd enchanted by its opulence. Upon entering, the audience encountered a huge drop curtain portraying the countryside, town and castle of Monaco. They marveled at the theaters plush blue seats, the rooms exquisite finish, workmanship and luxurious private boxes. But the spectacle was not confined to the surroundings.


"The opera house was packed from floor to dome by the culture, wealth and fashion of the city and a pleased surprise seemed to run through the entire audience as they gazed upon the interior beauties of this superb house." -The Oregonian, February 11 1890.



Portland society came to see and be seen. Man about town, Cyclorama backer and Ainsworth associate Lester L. Hawkins was in attendance, as was Miss Albina Page, doubtless the only person present with a city named for her. Oregon state senate president and future Portland mayor Joseph Simon, Crater Lake booster William Gladstone Steel, North End entrepreneur and future Portland mayor George P. Frank could be seen among the various Failings, Everetts, Goldsmiths, Starrs, Bickels, Dekums, Burnsides, Ralieghs, Saviers, Holmans, Heitshus and Pittocks. The house of Ladd, minus its aging patriarch, was represented by sons Charles and Wesley.


"It was as if everyone present realized the importance of the event from a social point of view, and was determined to do honor the occasion." -The Oregonian, February 11 1890.


The somber evening attire of the men was offset by the elaborate stylings of the women, as the upper echelons of Portland society strove to outshine each other. Mrs. Richard B. Knapp appeared in a Paris gown of yellow satin with a corsage decorated with rich point lace and a diamond necklace. Mrs. C.E.S. Wood wore a dress of blue grenadine, with ornaments and diamonds, while Miss Nellie Burnside was noted in a gown of white crepe, lace embellished corsage and a opera cloak of gray cashmere trimmed in white fur.

In the center of the dress circle could be seen Mrs. Henry J. Corbett wearing a black laced cloak of white velvet, embroidered with gold ornaments and diamonds of exceptional brilliance, next to Mrs. Charles E. Ladd in black lace, ornamented by pearls. Simeon and Amanda Reed sat in the front row of the parquette circle near the middle aisle. Judge Marquam sat in his own private box with his wife and four daughters.




Builder of the Grand, Judge Philip Augustus Marquam.




Like Billy Kersands and the Georgia Minstrels two weeks before, the 156 member Emma Juch Grand Opera Company had arrived by steamship from San Francisco.

In her interview with the Oregonian, Emma Juch said exactly the right things:

"Such a theatre is a monument to the artistic taste of the people in your city. I have been in the finest in this country and Europe and I find this equal to any. The acoustic properties of the house are all a singer could desire".

The Oregonian, in describing her depiction of Marguerite, returned the love:

"Few reach to a point of portrayal, either dramatically or vocally, which the roll demands. Among those few none, perhaps, so truly realizes the ideal of the master as does Miss Juch. She has the physical attributes which aid her greatly in her work -flaxen hair, the teutonic mold of features and a soft blue eye capable of a world of expression. She shows too, in her conception and execution of the role an intelligent idea of its demands which may singers have failed to exhibit".



The only sour notes to be found were in reference to some of the audience and the dazzling scene's potential to overshadow the music itself.

"It is to be regretted that quite a number of the audience came late, and thus disturbed the many who had good taste to be in their seats by or before 8 o'clock".

"The people assembled on Monday night within the walls of the spacious auditorium of the new edifice, however, seemed to be there more to see each other, to examine the beauties of the house, to pass judgement, as it were, upon the general effect of the entire ensemble, than to listen with attentive ear and receptive faculties to the operatic performance that was set before them."



The general impression of the evening though was best summed up by Henry McGuinn, Esq:

"An inspiring scene. Fair women, well dressed men, and above all immortal music. The building itself is beyond doubt a triumph of architecture".





A program from the next stop on the tour for Emma Juch; the Victoria Theater in Victoria B.C. where she played a three night engagement starting on Monday February 17th. The order of productions duplicated their Portland sequence, minus the last three operas.



The Emma Juch Grand English Opera Company continued to play the Marquam Grand to rave reviews for the next five nights and one matinee, then continued on to Victoria B.C.

Portlanders could look forward to the next extravaganza, a comic opera, The Pearl of Pekin, featuring John C. Leach, said to portray the cleverest Chinese characterizations ever seen on stage.





A rare view of the Marquam building from the north, taken at Alder and Park, including the auditorium itself, by then known as the Orepheum. It is likely this is a picture of the funeral for Portland Fire Chief David Campell in 1911. The colonial style house at Alder and 7th is the old Marquam residence "the little New England cottage." torn down in 1912.-Photo courtesy of Norm Gholston.





Afterword:


Emma Juch retired from Opera in 1894. She died in New York City in 1939.


Billy Kersands, along with "the great Gauze" and Richards & Pringle's Georgia Minstrels next appeared in Portland at the Marquam Grand Opera House on April 30 1893, with a much expanded company that featured a band and orchestra.

The troupes continued success would see them to travel in The Georgia, their own private rail car, an accoutrement which was, in the words of Lucius Beebe, usually "...the hallmark of millionaires, and mostly rich millionaires at that."

Billy Kersands own view of the demeaning aspects of minstrelsy is perhaps captured in his quote: "Son, if they hate me, I'm still whipping them because I am making them laugh". He died in 1915.

A late edition of Richards and Pringle's Georgia Minstrels played Portland for the last time at the Oriental Theater on Grand Avenue on October 27 1933.



The Marquam Grand Opera House closed on April 1 1906 on the orders of Mayor Harry Lane's Executive Board for ignoring their fire safety recommendations pertaining to entertainment establishments. The final show featured George H. Primrose's Big Minstrels, lead by veteran white minstrel George Primrose who promised "...darkey life from long befo' the war to the present day". "Nothing but minstrelsy, no acrobats, or slap stick comedians -just minstrelsy pure and simple".

The theater would reopen under numerous incarnations, often as a vaudeville house. It survived the collapse of the southeast side and demolition of the main portion of the Marquam building in 1912 and was torn down in 1922.





The south east side of the Marquam building after its collapse in 1912. The building would be demolished shortly thereafter. -Photo courtesy of Norm Gholston.

A link to a very early post on Cafe Unknown about the collapse of the Marquam Grand.


Cafe Unknown, Portland Oregon History on Facebook

Thanks to Norm Gholston for the use of his photographs, which to my shock included one of the Marquam under construction!

The Guide

"Nah, I don't think I've anything worth telling. Nah, nah. I don't want to be bothered. Here's a little book... Nah, I won't let you see it -I wouldn't let my own mother see it. It's a guide to the old bawdy houses in Portland, back in '94. Here, I'll read you some of it, if you must have it."

-William (Billy) Mayer to Sarah B. Wrenn. March 23 1939.


Sarah Wrenn was having trouble establishing a rapport with the proprietor of the cigar stand in the lobby of the Davis building. When they me the day before, Billy Mayer claimed to have stories from Portland's early days, which he had already shared with a famous author. His manor and dapper clothes suggested he had been somewhat of a man about town in his day and he seemed enthusiastic to talk. She made an appointment to return the next day for an interview. Now, as they stood in the dim, mahogany lined lobby, the frequent interruptions by his customers (they all bought cigars, not cigarettes, she noted) seemed to make him clam up.

The Davis building, where Sarah Wrenn interviewed Billy Mayer on March 23 1939 was on the east side of Third Avenue, between Washington and Stark. It was built in 1886 as the Abington building and once had a central tower that made it the tallest building in Portland until 1889. The building was demolished in 1967 to make the surface parking lot that still occupies the site. -Photo courtesy of Doug Magedanz. (click on pictures to expand)


Sarah Wrenn's job with the Federal Writer's Project for the Oregon Folklore Studies program made her used to conducting interviews. She decided to pull back a bit and soft peddle the questions. After awhile he reluctantly produced a small book: The Guide, a description of amusement resorts of Portland, Oregon and vicinity.

Mayer explained as he flicked through the pages:

"There was a back on it that had advertised the old White House, out on the Willamette River, where the fine homes of Riverdale are now. There was a little race track out there -a quarter mile track I think it was -and all the bloods with fast horses used to drive out there on what was called the Macadam Road. It was the only road of that kind in the country. That's how the street leading out that way got its name. It had verandas out over the river...

Here's an advertisement of the old restaurants in town, and there's advertisements of the theaters and pool rooms too. Those old restaurants, with their private booths and dining rooms, could some tall tales. There was the Louvre, and up on West Park there was the Richards Restaurant. That was a big place, with side entrances where they served fine food and wines and liquors if every sort. There was a dining room, of course, but likely most of the paying business was in the private, small dining rooms leading off from the narrow corridors.






Mayor Harry Lane, afterwords U.S. Senator, was responsible for closing up the Richards place. He had it raided and closed. Seems some of his women relatives, or one of them at least, frequented it. There was quite a scandal at the time. Nah, I don't remember the details. Anyway, Lane closed up Richards, and shortly after all the other places with booths was closed up."

"Ah here, you might as well take the book and copy the stuff. I haven't got time to read it all..." -William (Billy) Mayer to Sarah B. Wrenn. March 23 1939.



Sarah Wrenn took the small book and hand copied the contents. The next day she submitted a typed transcript of the interview and the book's contents to the Federal Writers Project.





What follows is The Guide, as transcribed by Sarah Wrenn, with my annotations. It sheds some light on Portland's notorious "North End" with its human trafficking on an almost inconceivable scale, and a forgotten district of "amusement resorts" to the south of Burnside, whose madams were celebrated in poetic verse.

(1)



September 1894

THE GUIDE

A description of amusement resorts of Portland, Oregon and vicinity




(2)


Preface


This is a guide without avarice tainted
A "tip", as it were, before you're acquainted.
And now, my good friends, you've had my excuse;
I could have said more, but what is the use?
This thing I've "writ" and its dedicated
To strangers and those who're uninitiated



(3)


A FAST LOCALITY

In Portland is a notorious locality, known by the name of the "White Chapel District." It is the home of the most abandoned members of the demimonde, and on a small scale resembles the famous section of London, after which it is named. Within its boundaries are several hundred women, most of whom live in small one story houses or cribs. The inmates of these cribs represent every nationality, with French predominating.

On Lower Second Street can be seen Japanese and African women.

The district lies north of Ankeny street, and owing to the surveillance of Portland's admirable police department, is perfectly safe for the stranger to visit, provided he does not got too familiar with the occupants of the "cribs."

The "North End", defined in an 1915 Oregonian article as "about 4th Street, 3rd Street and Burnside, Couch, Davis and Everett streets" was regularly described by drawing comparisons with like districts elsewhere: "White Chapel," "Barbary Coast," "the Bowery," "the Bad Lands" and "the Tenderloin" were all terms used by the press in reference to the area.

Newspaper accounts place its origin to around 1889, after the area had been abandoned as a residential district. Prior to that, from the time following the Great Fire of 1873, the "Tenderloin of Portland" was on the "north side of Yamhill street and the east side of Third and scattered about a general district converging on Third and Taylor" (Oregonian, December 15 1915). Political pressure from the First Methodist Church, that was surrounded by it, caused prostitution activities to move to the North End, in "frame shacks built specifically for that purpose."

The Guide then shifts to describe activities in another area, bounded roughly by Ankeny, Fifth, Morrison and Park; a residential neighborhood under pressure by the expansion of the downtown commercial district, where madams catered to a more genteel clientele.






Four brothels are visible in this picture, a portion of a panoramic photograph taken, circa 1893, from the tower of the Oregonian building at 6th and Alder. The original Trinity Church as well as the Cyclorama building (near the right corner) can also be seen.

"Here are the verses -Sam Simpson, the old poet of Oregon is said to have written them. I don't know. But they advertised the "madams." Yes, they were all called "madam" then. I don't know why they all have "Miss" in front of their names here." -William (Billy) Mayer to Sarah B. Wrenn, March 23 1939.

(4)

MISS MINNIE REYNOLDS

89 Fifth Street

In handsome parlors, skilled to please,
Fair Minnie waits in silken ease,
And at each guest's desire supplies
Dear pleasures, hid from prying eyes.
With such a haven ever nigh
Who could pass her parlors by?

The two story white frame house near center is at 89 5th street (old numbering system), the home of Minnie Reynold's establishment. Below: the site today, (near the doorway of the Oregon Trail building).

Minnie Reynolds appeared in Portland City directories as Miss Minnie Reynolds at the same address until 1902.




MISS FANSHAW

151 Seventh Street

Lets live while we live;
We'll be dead a long while,
And tho Fortune may frown,
Fair Miss Fanshaw will smile,
If a kiss will not sooth you,
She has pleasures that will;
The chalice of passion overflowingly fill,
And your troubles and cares,
You will lightly ignore
When love's rich libation
This Charmer will pour



"Madam Fanshaw and her girls were extremely polite, but you didn't sit around there a great while without spending substantial sums of money. It was no place for the loggers, the miners and the fishermen."
-Stewart Holbrook in the Oregonian, August 9 1936.



Lida Fanshaw operated her establishment, across 7th from the opulent Marquam Grand theater until around 1900. Donald R. Nelson's piece in the September 28 2001 Portland Tribune tells what is known of her story.




The Broadway building is on the site of Lida Fanshaw's establishment at 171 7th (Broadway).


(5)


MISS MABEL MONTAGUE

94 Fifth Street Cor. Stark

Here is a mansion, of which is related
That on all this Coast it is not duplicated.
Its well-furnished parlors the fashionable seek,
For comfort is here, joined to the unique,
And the girls who respond to the visitors call,
Are the pride of Miss Mabel, and the pride of her hall.





94 5th Street (the Italianate house on the corner). The large commercial building at the end of the block is a harbinger of things to come, built on the site where the original Temple Beth Israel stood until 1888. Below; food carts on the site of Mabel Montague's house.








MISS DELLA BURIS

150 East Park, between Alder and Morrison

Here is a lady of such ways all admire
She no flattery from the best does require
Modest as a maiden, youthful,
Good-natured as she is truthful,
Della Buris has a name
All might enjoy, none can blame


"Della Buris' place was no joint. It was patronized largely by men who have since made their mark in the city's professional and business life." -Stewart Holbrook in the Oregonian, August 2 1936.

Ankeny at Park during of June 1894, three and a half blocks north of the house of Della Buris and two months before the publication of The Guide. -City of Portland Archives.

The site of 94 East Park.

MISS DORA CLARK

MISS MAUDE MORRISON

95 Sixth Street, Cor. Stark

No man in this City who is known as a sport
But will tell you he's seen and enjoyed this resort
It's a house full of beauties, whose rooms dazzling bright
Shimmer and glimmer with mirth and delight





The roof of 95 6th street is visible at the left corner, partially obscured by the flat roofed building across Stark from it. The original Trinity Church, beloved by the Portland establishment, is a block south. Below: the site of 95 6th street today.






MISS IDA AURLINGTON

No. 90 Fifth Street

To reign is beauty's queenly right,
And he is but a shabby knight,
Who is not charmed, aye wholly won
by lovely Ida Aurlington,
Whose grace of manner and of form
Takes every manly heart by storm.







Ida Aurlington's house was directly across 5th from Minnie Reynolds, between the large commercial building and Mabel Montague's house on the corner. Below, the site today.







(6)


MADAM FLORA (likely Flora Hoyt)

130 Fifth Street

The gay rose gardens are (illegible)
But blooming Flora is still here
To make us quite forget the rose
Has sighed her gentle adios.







The peaked roof of Madam Flora's appears beside the flat roof on the right side of the picture. A block east, the low slung building with awnings is the Louvre Restaurant, between the elaborate Washington Block and the four story Holton House building, where the Louvre eventually moved to. Below, the site of 130 5th.







DORA LYNN

If you're out for a lark, or that is your passion,
Just call on this house, so lately in fashion.
With its fairy like nymphs and Dora Lynn its queen,
Where privacy, rest, and all is serene.
There are a great many Doras, but I write this one down
As the best one that ever has lived in this town.



(End)



In his 1936 Oregonian series on Portland's moral crusades, Stewart Holbrook states the "parlor house" operators were raided by police in an 1895 campaign that resulted in no convictions, but the long term affect of which was to consolidate prostitution activities to the North End by 1906.



Sarah B. Wrenn first appeared in the 1905 city directory as a stenographer for the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company. She likely married a Bert Ramsey in 1910, a union that ended within two years. From 1912 on, she would appear sporadically in city directories, sometimes with long gaps in between. In 1939 she lived in the Elk's building on SW 15th.

Most of the work of the WPA Federal Writers Project in Oregon was published anonymously. The recently digitized American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers Project, 1936-1937 , that this piece draws upon shows Sarah Wrenn's keen eye for detail, both in the description of the interviewee and surroundings. She would use earlier interviews to build upon her questions. Two months after Billy Mayer mentioned the White House, she brought it up to another subject, who added that there was a second, less elaborate resort known as the Red House on the Macadam Road, and the road once had a toll gate.

In the early 1950s Sarah Wrenn worked for the Portland Chamber of Commerce. She last appears in the 1960 directory.

It is unlikely that a copy of The Guide exists outside of her transcription.

William (Billy) Mayer first appears in Portland directories in 1905 as a clerk at a boarding house (there are numerous prior entries but it is impossible to ascertain which one is him). In 1909 he ran a billiards hall at 390 East Morrison, that moved to 113 4th in 1911. It moved once again to 133 1/2 in the Couch building in 1917. He closed the pool hall in 1936 but continued to sell cigars in the Couch building's lobby. He moved to the Davis building in 1939. In 1944 he was managing the lunch counter at the Miami Club at 610 SW 4th. His last appearance in the city directories is in 1950, with his wife Ina, whom he married in 1918.

Stewart Holbrook (1893-1964). Billy Mayer claimed to have shared his stories with a "famous author." Stewart Holbrook, a raconteur who rigorously combed Portland's streets for anecdote, is a likely suspect. If so, Billy Mayer could have been a source for Holbrook in his Oregonian columns and works such as The Portland Story (1950).


Samuel L. Simpson (1845-1899). Did Oregon's first Poet Laureate, author of Beautiful Willamette, write the verses in The Guide as mentioned by Billy Mayer? In Oregon Literature (1899) John B. Horner refers to the troubled Simpson, born of a prominent family and beset by alcohol problems, as "the Edgar Allen Poe of Oregon." A denizen of journalism's Grub Street, familiar with all strata of Portland society, the verses in The Guide could have been just another job to make ends meet.







"The Louvre Nude" once hung in the Louvre Restaurant on 4th Street, an advertiser in The Guide. After the restaurant closed the painting disappeared. Years later it emerged from the closet of a prominent Portland woman whose husband had acquired it from Louvre owner Theodore Kruse, in payment for a cigar bill. Walter Holman, the owner of Jake's Famous Crawfish, bought it in the early 1960s. Initially covered by a red and white tablecloth, the painting was finally unveiled at Jake's on April 27 1962. It hangs above the bar there to this day.

Thanks to Doug Magedanz for the use of the picture of the Abington / Davis building and Mark Barthemer for tipping me off to the "Louvre Nude"!


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One of my frustrations (along with not having enough time in the day) is that there is no good way to mix updates, short pieces and arcane facts with the posts on this page. So now, Cafe Unknown has a facebook page where I can post finds, like this wonderful stereoview of the the Great Light Way that I purchased on ebay. I can also give a heads up when a new post is finished. Talk Portland History, badger me to get back to work if I take to long between posts, post early and post often... Enjoy!