Historic photo: Portland, Oregon, 1890.
In some ways, Portland has changed a lot; in others, not so much.
It’s always interesting to see places you know well as they appeared in the past. This is the skyline of Portland, Oregon, as it appeared in 1890. Judging from the angle of the sunlight and the foliage, I’d venture a guess this was taken in the late spring or summer. Notice all the snow visible on Mt. Hood, which is completely covered. It doesn’t look like that in the summer today. Know why? Human-caused global warming.
Beyond that, you can see the gables of various wealthy houses as well as the steeples of churches, attesting to Portland’s relative affluence at this time. Extractive industries—especially timber—were Portland’s bread and butter in the late 19th century. (I think the large building in the foreground left is a mill or lumber warehouse). One of the steeples you see, indistinctly, is what’s now called the Old Church, a landmark wooden church built in Portland in 1882. I believe it’s visible just above the “warehouse” building. It was known at that time as Calvary Presbyterian Church. My guess is that this photo was taken from somewhere near the present location of the Rose Test Gardens in Washington Park.
Imagine what walking the streets of Portland would have been like at this time. It’d be a lot of mud, planks, stumps, horse crap, seedy bars where drunken sailors were sometimes Shanghaiied, single men (who outnumbered women by a large amount), purse-snatchers, con men and ladies of the evening. The paradise of craft beer, coffee drinks, hipster glasses and shiny buildings paid for by money from Nike or Intel would have to wait another century.
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