volume 16 • number 2 spring 2007 thompson street rascal · 2013. 3. 7. · volume 16 • number 2...
TRANSCRIPT
Eliot NEwsVolume 16 • Number 2
SpriNg 2007
A Publication of Eliot Neighborhood Association
eliot Neighborhood ASSoCiAtioN
Membership MeetingsMonday, April 9 Monday, May 147:00 – 9:00 pm
Emanuel HospitalMedical Office Building West Conference Room501 N Graham St
William “Billy” McNicholas, born in the Eliot Neighborhood, shared with me what it was like to grow up here in the 1930s. Among other things, he told me some of the mischief he got into when he was between the ages of 9 and 11 playing with the other kids on the block. Here is his story:
I was born on April 12th, 1926 at my home at 46 NE Thompson. We called the area the Albina
District. We had Upper and Lower Albina. There were many immigrants on Thompson Street—German, Irish, Italian, Greek and Dutch…a Dr. Al-den. From what I remember, except for the children playing together, the adults didn’t socialize much, they were busy working hard and taking care of their kids.
My folks are from Ireland. My mother’s name was Mary Agnes and my father’s name was Patrick Joseph. I had four brothers—Tom, Pat, Mike and Martin, who died as a baby—and one sister, Mary. We attended Immaculate Heart Church at the corner of Williams and Stanton.
There were a bunch of children in the neighborhood and we’d play softball, baseball, catch and touch football. We would roller-skate on the street and sidewalks. I remember that NE Second Street was really smooth, so we would play hockey games on [metal] roller-skates. Most of the streets were paved with asphalt, but Russell Street was cobblestone.
Sometimes when we played touch football the ball would hit Mr. Fromong’s electric wire and affect his radio reception. Then he would chase us down the street!
We often played marbles in the parking strip. We’d put little holes
Announcing
Please Join Us!
By Jennifer Jako, Eliot resident
contInues on page 7
thompson street Rascalin the packed dirt in a circle and lag for the pots.
Next door to my house was a big abandoned apartment house. We would climb up to the balcony with paper bags full of water and drop them in front of people walking by. One time we soaked my older brother on his way to the trolley stop to meet a girl for a date. If people came after us, we’d crawl into the apartment’s wood chute, climb up, and hide in the attic.
We’d stick a toothpick in the door-bell of Dr. Allen who lived on the corner of Thompson and Williams, then run away. I think it would make his bell keep ringing!
We would take a penny, drill a tiny hole in it, thread through a fine bit of copper wire and leave the penny on the sidewalk. Whenever someone bent down to pick it up, we’d yank it away. One woman figured it out and stepped on the penny before we could pull it back!
We made our own go-carts and rode them up and down the streets and sidewalks. We’d use a 2 x 4, an apple box, two cross pieces of wood, and a roller-skate split in half. One axle of the skate wheels became the front wheels and one axle became the back wheels.
Our family didn’t own a cam-era, so I don’t have many pictures from back then. We didn’t own a car until 1936. The trolley ran on Union [Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd] and Williams Avenue. The trolley on Union Avenue went over to Vancouver. They went by at regular intervals. When the street car would stop on the corner of Williams, we would sometimes swing the arm away that connected the trolley to the lines overhead. We’d run off and the
1937, Home from the Beach
William “Billy” McNicholas
Jefferson High School football player
A young rascal
BOISE-ELIOT SCHOOL PTOBoise-Eliot parents and neighbors, please join us for the Boise-Eliot Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings. Find out about what’s new at the school and how you can be involved.
Meeting dates: April 10 May 8 June 5
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: 620 N Fremont, in the school library
Childcare is provided.
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eliot moNthlY meetiNgSIf you live or work in Eliot, you are welcome and encouraged to attend the monthly meetings of the Eliot Neighborhood Association, which are held the second Monday of each month at Emanuel Hospital.
It’s a great opportunity to meet your neighbors, stay informed about what’s going on in Eliot, help build a stronger community, and have input into decisions that may affect you. Also consider joining a committee or becoming a board member (we have vacancies).
Emanuel Hospital, 501 N. Graham, Medical Office Building West Conference Room
eliot Neighborhood ASSoCiAtioNThe Eliot Neighborhood Association (ENDA) is a nonprofit corporation whose members are the residents and business owners of the Eliot Neigh-borhood. Its purpose is to inform Eliot residents about issues affecting the neighborhood through meetings, newsletters and other activities. Members of the neighborhood association must be over 14 years old and live, own property, have a business, or represent a nonprofit within the neighborhood. The Eliot Neighborhood Association was founded in 1969. It is recognized by the City of Portland, is a member of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, Inc., and has representatives on several other groups and committees.
eNdA boArd memberSChair Gary Hampton, 503.282.5429, [email protected]
Co Vice Chairs Chris Bleiler and Jennifer Jako503.284.6650, [email protected]
Treasurer Carol Kennedy, 503.331.1312, [email protected]
Recorder Naomi Saks
Newsletter Editor Tony Green, 503-221-8202, [email protected]
Eric Aronson, 503.282.4126, [email protected]
Howie Bierbaum, The Wonder Ballroom 503.284.8686, [email protected]
Pauline Bradford, 503.287.7138
Co Board Members Matt Gilley and Vickie Walker503.233.0929, [email protected] or [email protected]
Kirsten Jenkins503.515.6633, [email protected]
Clint Lundmark, [email protected]
Jim Shikany, [email protected]
Laurie Simpson, 503.280.1005, [email protected]
Matt Svybersky, Volunteers of America, Men’s Residential Center503.335.8611, [email protected]
Co Board Members Chris Yeargers and Marie D’Hulst 503.284.4392, [email protected] or [email protected]
eNdA lANd uSe CommitteeChair — Mike Warwick503.417.7555/503.284.7010, [email protected]
Chris Bleiler, 503.998.8806, [email protected]
Pauline Bradford, 503.287.7138
Matt Gilley, 503.233.0929, [email protected]
Gary Hampton, 503.282-5429, [email protected] Kirsten Jenkins, 503.515.6633, [email protected]
Jason Mershon, 503.330.0922/503.331.2929, [email protected] Laurie Simpson, 503.282.1005, [email protected]
eliot NeWS is published four times a year by the Eliot Neighborhood Association. It is delivered or mailed free of charge to every address in the neighborhood. It does not have a ISBN.
Editor: Tony Green, 503-221-8202 • [email protected] Layout: Lisa J. Switalla • 503-460-2558 • [email protected]: [email protected] Coordinator: Kirsten Jenkins • 503-515-6633
Rights to articles are retained by the author. Opinions of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the Eliot Neighborhood Association
Editor’s NoteU
You’d think when the Office of Neighborhood Involvement’s budget includes $25,000 in grants that the money would go to…well, neigh-
borhoods.
But that’s not the way it worked out recently when a subcommittee of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods doled out more than $25,000.
Not only did most of the money go to non-profit groups, but 40 percent of the neighborhoods within NECN (Eliot included) did not even apply.
In an email exchange, the head of ONI assured me that notice was sent to neighborhoods. Eliot board members I contacted, however, didn’t re-member seeing the notice, which I suspect got buried in the avalanche of notices the city sends out.
So who gets the money? A group of quasi-professional, non-profits that are experts in applying for grants.
Not exactly a shocking result. Non-profits, with their single-minded purposes and paid staff, are more likely succeed in such a system.
Amalia Alarcon, who heads ONI, said the city council said the money should be available to groups other than neighborhood-based entities.
This is hardly surprising. Portland officials like to brag about the city’s active neighborhood associations, but I think elected officials mostly find citizen participation a nuisance. Unlike non-profits, which have easily di-gestible goals, we represent a vast mix of views that sometimes get in the way of some commissioner’s best-laid mega-project.
So, would you give these groups more money?
For those who want to see the numbers, here’s what I found:• 7 out of 12 neighborhoods within NECN applied for a grant (58%)• Of those, King, Vernon and Concordia received nothing.• Boise, Humboldt, Sabin and Woodlawn received virtually the entire
amount applied for.• Total amount asked for: $17,934• Total received: $9,254• 32 non-profits of various types applied. 8 received funding.• Total amount asked for: $206,740 • Total received: $16,117
In sum:
• 42 percent of the neighborhoods within NECN did not apply for a grant.• 30 percent of the neighborhoods in NECN received funding, and
they received 36 percent of the total.
I urged Ms. Alarcon do better outreach before the next round of grants. I suspect we will have to watch out for ourselves. •
By Tony Green
eliot NeWS Ad rAteS
Category Size (h x w) 1x 2x 3x 4x1/16 page 2.25" x 5" $ 25 $ 42 $ 63 $ 84 1/8 page 4.5" x 5" $ 37 $ 68 $ 97 $ 122 1/4 page 8.25" x 5" $ 58 $ 108 $ 154 $ 194 1/2 page 8.25" x 10.25" $ 105 $ 195 $ 277 $ 349 Full page 16.25" x 10.25" $ 188 $ 353 $ 502 $ 632
Please make checks out to eliot Neighborhood association and mail to: Susan Bailey, 535 NE Thompson St., Portland, OR 97212.Questions? Call Tony Green at 503-221-8202 or email [email protected]
Eliot News has a per issue circulation of 3,000 and is hand-delivered or mailed to nearly 100% of the homes and businesses in the Eliot neighbor-hood. It is also distributed to residents and businesses in surrounding neigh-borhoods, including Irvington, Sabin and Boise.Eliot News is an 8-page tabloid (11 x 17) newspaper and is published four times a year. Ad deadlines are March 1, June 1, Sept. 1, Dec. 1.
Saving and Improving Housing in Eliot Neighborhood for 25 Years.
Houses and Apartments for rent. (503) 806-3502
BAILEY & WARWICK
WiNter 2007 3
equity group, inc.
Kirsten Jenkins503.515.6633
RE/MAX Inc., RealtorsOffice: (503) 287-8989
Pending Listings Bed Bath Sq Ft Price
1 N Fremont #401 0 1 1,058 $399,00041 NE Tillamook 3 3 1,368 $260,000536 NE Cook 3 1 2,179 $286,000608 NE San Rafael 3 1 2,006 $299,500126 NE Graham 3 3 3,100 $389,900126 NE Thompson 3 1.1 2,340 $398,7002056 NE Rodney 4 2.1 1,763 $399,9002529 NE 7th 3 1.1 2,119 $425,0002625 NE 7th 2 2.1 1,209 $450,000
Sold Listings Bed Bath Sq Ft Price
111 N Monroe 3 2 1,898 $287,000106 NE Tillamook 2 1 749 $215,00010 NE Fargo 2 1 742 $225,000216 NE Tillamook 3 1 1,336 $249,900542 NE Knott 2 2.1 1,302 $261,5002738 NE 7th 2 1 1,872 $294,50023 NE Cook 4 1 2,025 $287,500130 NE Fremont 3 1.1 1,816 $314,900204 NE Thompson 3 1.1 1,500 $322,000608 NE Ivy 4 2 2,795 $396,000633 NE Graham 3 2 2,308 $395,000123 NE Graham 3 2 2,574 $415,000533 NE Fargo 4 2 3,340 $468,00040 NE Fargo 5 2 4,370 $485,000
Kirsten Jenkins’ Real Estate Report
Want to know about: Great new capital gains tax laws? Current market information on your home?
I know your neighborhood.
XER
Around the NeighborhoodB
eliot neighborhood History A “cornerstones” African American Buildings History Program Saturday, April 1410:00 am–NoonFree admission, snacks and beverages. Location: Mark Woolley Gallery at the Wonder Ballroom,
128 NE Russell St., PortlandCo-sponsored by: Eliot Neighborhood Association
T he rich past of Eliot is sure to surprise you and provide food for thought on how to preserve the neighborhood’s wealth of historic buildings. Cathy
Galbraith, Executive Director of the Architectural Heritage Center, will ad-dress how Eliot began in 1872 as the original townsite of the city of Albina, and gradually grew from the riverfront up the hill, expanding to the east and north. After annexation to the city of Portland in 1891, the neighborhood remained home to German-Americans and other immigrants, including those from the Scandinavian countries. By 1916, Eliot had the third largest com-mercial area in the city, clustered on Russell Street at Albina, Vancouver, and Williams avenues. With the passage of time, the older housing stock attracted a steadily growing population, including the explosion in growth that came with World War II. African-Americans found homes in the neighborhood, especially with the Portland Realty Board’s race-based restrictions, beginning in 1919, on where people of color could buy properties. The destruction of hundreds of buildings for Memorial Coliseum, I-5, Fremont Bridge, and Emanuel Hospital erased much of the neighborhood’s built history, but there is more that still stands.
Pre-register online at www.visitahc.org or call the Architectural Heritage Center at 503.231.7264.
Volunteer for the following:· Help Clean Up and Paint Over· Identify Graffiti Locations· Photograph Event
T he City of Portland Graffiti Abatement program will sponsor a graffiti cleanup Saturday, May 19th, in Eliot Neighborhood, starting location to be
announced to volunteers. The cleanup will be held from 9:00 am–1:00 pm on Saturday and will be comprised of work by both Youth Employment Institute (YEI) and Goodbye Graffiti crews, and a minimum of 10 volunteers from Eliot neighborhood-business area.
The contractor-crews will focus on paint-out or power-wash removals from private properties (provided we have signed owner-permission prior to the event). Volunteers will remove graffiti from properties “in the right-of-way”, including utility poles, dumpsters, newspaper boxes, and other sites that are not routinely cleaned by agencies or owners.
Materials will be provided by the Graffiti Abatement Program.
Volunteers must sign a volunteer agreement and application, available at the Graffiti Program webpage, www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=32420
Please contact Jennifer Jako, Vice Chair, Eliot Neighborhood Association, if you can photograph the day of the event, help identifying graffiti and/or have a graffiti location to report for the May 19th Clean Up. Please email her at [email protected] with “Graffiti” in the subject heading or call 503.544.4757.
Research has shown that prompt removal of graffiti prevents repeat vandalism.
eliot neighborhood Graffiti Paint out collaborative cleanup
eliot NeWS4
O n the west side of North Wil-liams Avenue, a few blocks north of the busy Rose Quarter
area, there is a one story brick build-ing that has received little notice in recent years but is loaded with Af-rican-American history. This rather ordinary building at 2017 North Wil-liams has been run-down and vacant for years and is partially obscured by vegetation. Only recent plans for development of the property and its surroundings have brought its history to light. The good news is that the New Seasons Corporation, a grocery chain of quality foods, purchased the property and plans to place its admin-istrative headquarters on the site.
Unfortunately, due to the poor condi-tion of the brick building, the company plans to demolish it.
Jacob J. Tranchell, a building con-tractor who shared ownership with Daniel H. Kinley, originally constructed the building in 1914. Mr. Kinley, who lived to the south on lower Williams, opened Rose City Creamery Company in the building with an office. Henry
Kittery was his partner in the cream-ery. By 1920, the name was changed to Alsea Creamery Company, which remained until 1930, when it was re-modeled into retail space. Due to the Great Depression, the building was vacant during numerous years in the 1930s. But it believed that in 1938, William McClendon founded the Peoples Observer, a local weekly paper in support of African-Americans, in this building. It is known that in 1940 the paper was being printed in this building and his wife Ida served as the managing editor. At the beginning of World War II, there was a surge in cir-culation of the paper due to the arrival of many African-American workers for the war effort. This paper provided an alternative view of issues and activities not covered by the dominant press. The new arrivals to Portland during the war faced much hardship from the locals and this paper was influential for helping them gain local support. Also at this time, Bill McClendon es-tablished another paper in his office here that became the forerunner of the Portland Observer, a dominant paper
in today’s African-American commu-nity. Also during the war, McClendon gave McKinley Burt, an accountant, office space here. Mr. Burt was noted as being the first to operate a black accounting business in Oregon. He later became a professor at Portland State University and authored the book “Black Inventors in America”. He remained a columnist for the Portland Observer for many years until his death in 2001. William McClendon went on to establish the Black Studies Depart-ment at Reed College and remained an integral part of that department until his death in the late 1990s. The National Black Publishers Association gave him a significant award for all of his hard work.
In about 1945, McClendon sold the building to Robert Bird Jr. and his wife, Mary. The Birds opened the Blue Ribbon Café or Bird’s Blue Ribbon Barbecue. It proved to be a popular place for many Portlanders, both black and white, for many years until Bird sold the establishment in the 1960s, although it continued with the same name for a number of more years. The Bird family was significant in Portland’s early African-American community.
Roberts’ father, Robert Bird Sr., came to Portland in the early 1900s from the West Indies and became active in improving the rights of the few black citizens living here. He advanced to be-came president of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the 1920s, a period that saw the rise of the KKK in Oregon. In the 1970s, the building saw use as an upholstery shop that remained until about the early 1990s, when it remained vacant up to this day.
New Seasons will demolish the build-ing, but it also plans to put up a com-memorative plaque about the building’s special place in Portland’s history.
Information on African-American history provided by Bosco-Milligan Foundation and the 1998 publication “Cornerstones of Community, Build-ings of African-American History”. This will also be an excerpt of a book The History of Albina, anticipated for publication in 2007 by the author. Roos seeks any old photographs and historic stories and also conducts his-toric research on homes in the Eliot & Boise neighborhoods at very reason-able rates. He can be contacted at 503-282-9436 or [email protected]
Homes and Buildings of Eliot. By Roy E. Roos
2017 north Williams street
2017 North Williams Street
WiNter 2007 5
eliot eAterieS
Breakfast/coffee/cafés Bridges Café 2716 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 503-288-4169
Eliot E-Mat Café 2808 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 503-280-8889
Goldrush Coffee Bar 2601 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.503-331-5955
Tiny’s Café2031 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.503-467-4199
Waypost 3120 N. Williams St.
Bars/taverns820 820 N. Russell St., 503-284-5518
Bill Ray’s Dive 2210 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
McMenamin’s White Eagle Café & Saloon 836 N. Russell St., 503-282-6810
Sloan’s Tavern 36 N. Russell St., 503-287-2262
Spice 2808 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Waypost 3120 N. Williams St.
Widmer Gasthaus 929 N. Russell St., 503-281-3333
Lunch/Dinner Café Wonder 128 N.E. Russell St. 503-493-0371
Chuck’s Market, J&S Grocery 2415 N. Williams Ave. 503-281-6269
Doris’ Café 3606 N. Williams Ave., 503-460-2595
Echo2225 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.503-460-3246
Mint 816 N. Russell St., 503-284-5518
Pizza A Go Go3240 N. Williams St.503-335-0300
Popeye’s Famous Fried Chicken 3120 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 503-281-8455
Queen of Sheba 2413 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 503-287-6302
Russell Street BBQ325 N.E. Russell St.503-528-8224
Tropicana Bar Be Cue 3217 N. Williams Ave. 503-281-8696
FHHow’s the food at The Café Wonder or Tiny’s?Who pulls the best espresso shots in Eliot?Where is the happiest “Happy Hour” in the neighborhood?We need reviews for our Local Food Finds column. Visit your favorite haunt, write up a review and send it to The Eliot News at [email protected]
Calling all Foodies!
eliot NeWS6
434 N. Tillamook StreetPortland, Oregon 97227
Phone (503) 281-1238 CCB0040364
T he Big Yellow House at 23 NE San Rafael is sometimes affectionately referred to as “The Beast” by
our family and friends. They watch in awe at the enormous scope that the continual maintenance, repairs and renovations seem to encompass.
The home was built in 1909 for a Chinese Doctor and his wife, Leo Gee and Sadie Starbuck Wo. The main floor of the house is much as it was, contain-ing a parlor, a sitting room, a dining room, a large kitchen and an oversized entry that leads, not only to the living quarters, but to the Doctor’s office. With five bedrooms on the second floor, including a duplex room, and two additional attic rooms for servants, the initial square footage is estimated over 5,000 square feet including the basement.
Dr. Wo practiced natural and herbal medicine and was probably the first naturopathic physician in Portland. The fact that he owned property in the city, at a time when Chinese were prohibited from doing so by state law, is a testament to the success of his practice.
In addition to the Wo family of five, the original residents included Sadie’s
father, Charles, two servants and two boarders.
The house was designed by archi-tect David L. Williams who designed many local commercial buildings and at least two other homes in the area—1914 NE 22nd and 1924 NE 24th. The design marries traditional Four Square architecture with Chinese influences. Carved into the stairway banister Yin and Yang symbols can be seen as well as the twelve ray sun, originating from the twelve traditional Chinese hours of the day. (In traditional Chinese medicine the two hour peak periods correlate with the Twelve Vital Organs that are connected via the Twelve Meridians.) The exterior boasts a slightly curved roof, in the style of Chinese temples (to ward off evil spirits) and parts of Chinese characters make up the front porch structure.
Since its original construction, the porch has been enclosed and a 20' x 20' meeting room has been added to the back of the house, which brings the dwelling’s total square footage to “beast” proportions.
According to public records, the Wo family owned the home until
the mid-thirties. The next fifty years saw three owners, some vacancies and some pretty sorry times until it was purchased in the late 80’s by Safe Ministries. It became a group home for at least ten residents with offices in the enclosed front porch and a sanctuary in the meeting room in the back. It remained that way for the next 17 years.
Once again the house has become a family “compound”, echoing its origins as a place for extended family and a practiced vocation. A one bedroom apartment in the basement that was built by the previous owner houses our nephew Conor Gilles and his girlfriend, Autumn Dawley. Another
the Big Yellow House aka “the Beast” By JoAnn Gilles
apartment being built in the attic space is almost complete. Our daughter, Kate Gilles and her boyfriend Jacob Allsup are about to inhabit that space. The rest of the house is left for my husband Otis and me to share with artist friends.
As a painter, I have plenty of room for studio space and the meeting/sanc-tuary room at the back of the house serves as a place to teach painting. One night a week friends and acquaintances gather, share a bite to eat and explore the process of creativity in paint. The community, the expression, the discus-sion, and the family point the direction, not only to the future of The Big Yellow House, but to its past and its healing, spiritual nature.
Flagship Store Now Open!3964 N Mississippi Ave
The classroom—shared space. (The bathtub will go in the new apartment upstairs)
1909 photo of house with Dr. Wo and child
WiNter 2007 7
A lan Sanchez, owner the motel on San Rafael and Rodney, signed a nuisance abatement agreement on 2/16/07.
Lower Eliot neighbors have made a concerted effort, working with police, the Northeast Coalition of Neighbor-hoods and the Multnomah County DA’s office to improve conditions of the motel.
Here are the elements of the agreement:1. Owner or designee will conduct
background checks on all occupants that intend to establish tenancy, or are approaching tenancy based on time (prior to three weeks).
neighborhood Dispute—Portland Pensione update2. In addition to the background
check, occupants will be required to obtain a copy of their PPDS printout for use in the background check, obtained from the Portland Police Records Division, and provide it to the owner as a condition of, and prior to the establishment of, tenant status.
3. PPB will provide a current photo list of persons excluded from the Drug Free Zone on a monthly basis.
4. Owner or management will provide occupant, tenant, and guest registration information to officers of the Portland Police Bureau when requested.
5. Owner and management will enforce existing guest registration requirements and 8 pm guest restrictions, when applicable.
6. Owner and management agree to attend the Landlord Training program presented by John Campbell and sponsored by the City of Portland.
7. Owner and management agree to evict problem tenants when identified.
8. Owner and management agree to continue to cooperate and work with district and NRT officers in identifying and eliminating problems on the property.
conductor would have to reconnect it! We’d also flatten 16 penny and 8 penny nails on the rails. We were rascals!
My friend Irene, who was two years older than me, lived right next door at 36 NE Thompson. Her family would sometimes go to the store, forget their keys and lock themselves out. They had a little hole in the door for the milkman to leave milk. I was small enough that I could squeeze through the milk opening to let them back in the house.
My father kept a nice vegetable gar-den in our yard with an apple and a cherry tree. We had a good-sized shed in the back. We raised chickens and pigeons—the chickens for eggs. My brothers raised pigeons that were called tumblers. They would do flips in the air. My brothers would sell the pigeons to people in town then afterward the pigeons would fly back to our house!
We also raised pigeons as squabs for food to sell to the Chinese restaurants. My brother and I would go under the Steel Bridge and raid the pigeon nests for squabs to sell. The railroad police caught us up there one time and I was running so fast I hit my head square on one of the steel trusses. That hurt! The police caught up to us and let us know we had no business being up there.
Families burned briquets made by the Portland Gas & Coke Company (now NW Natural) located on Front Avenue. They were made out of a by-product powder from gas production and compressed into briquets. They also burned coal and slab wood. You could drive down streets and see the wood piled up. You would hire a man with a truck to pick up the wood at the mills and saw it into stove-length sizes and drop it off at your house. He would pile it against the telephone pole in front of our house on Thomp-son. We’d fill a wheelbarrow and put the wood through an opening in the basement window. My dad and older brothers would split it so it would fit in the stove. When they trimmed logs back then they wasted a lot—four to
six inches depending on the size of the log. Keeping the house warm back then was not a problem.
We had a potbelly stove in the dining room and a wood burning stove with gas in the kitchen. We were blessed with mild weather in Oregon and lots of wood to burn. We were never cold in the winter. At night you had to build up a good fire so that we’d keep warm through the night.
One of our bedrooms had a pull- out bed that looked like a cupboard. There was a piano and a davenport in the front room. The older boys shared a room and, until I was older, I shared a room with my sister.
During the Depression, people would come up from Sullivan’s Gulch (which was a hobo town) and offer to work in exchange for food. My mother would make them a sandwich and a cup of tea. They would make a mark on the sidewalk in front of all the houses where they could find food for work so they would know where to return.
We never drank coffee, we always drank tea. My mother would place tea leaves in a porcelain teapot and pour in the boiling water. Each time she would add more leaves, so that by the third or fourth pot, when you had a cup of my mother’s tea it would make you stand at attention!
tHomPson stReet RAscAL, from page 1
In July 1936, we left the house we had been renting on NE Thompson, and my father, a longshoreman, finally saved up enough to put a downpay-ment on a bigger house for the family at 219 NE Cook. “I remember being able to look out to the west from that house and clearly see the occasional gas flames shoot up from the Gas & Coke Co.!”
Full of vim and vigor at age eighty, Mr. McNicholas’ recollections at 10 years old are clearer than mine, and I’m only 34! He still remembers all the street names and listed them as you go North like he still lived in the neighborhood. He went to Jefferson High School and played guard on their football team. He enlisted in the army while at Jeff and spent two years in the military, which took him to India.
His career as a steamfitter was honed in Portland’s shipyards and during construction of Vanport College. He worked first for M. Harder Plumbing Co.—now Harder Mechanical Con-tractors—then at Johnson Controls Co. as a journeyman mechanical contractor for industrial projects. He furthered his professional education at Purdue University.
He remained active in the church, helping six Indonesian families come to America, and then secured homes and jobs for them.
He sang in his church choir, the Portland Symphonic Choir and even accompanied Jim Nabors! His reputa-tion as one of Portland’s leading Irish tenors was confirmed for me when he broke into song right before I left his home. He sang an Irish love song with such emotion in his beautiful voice it brought a tear to my eye. I knew he was singing about his now departed wife.
He and his wife, Norma, were togeth-er for “fifty-seven years, two months, and ten days.” They had six children and adopted two of his brother’s chil-dren for a total of eight. He keeps in touch with many of the kids he grew up with in Eliot.
Look for McNicholas’ childhood friend Irene’s perspective in a future issue of The Eliot News.
If you know of someone who has Eliot history to tell, please email The Eliot News editor, Tony Green at [email protected]
William and Norma McNicholas at their wedding in 1947 (left) and in 1996 (right).
ELIOT NEIGHBORHOOD SPRING CLEAN-UPSaturday May 12 • 9 am–1 pm
Drop-off at N. Graham between Vancouver and Williams
FEESc Small Vehicle — $5
, Pickup — $10 and up
f Oversize loads — $20 and up
Separated Metals — Reduced cost
# Donated Bikes — Free
THIS CLEAN-UP IS FUNDED BY METRO, THE CITY OF PORTLAND AND THE NORTHEAST COALITION OF NEIGHBORHOODS
Have any questions?Want to volunteer?
Contact Chris at 503-284-4392
Clean out your basements!
Get out those boxes!
Need help hauling your materials?Pick-up assistance is available for our senior or disabled residents!
Call ahead to arrange for pickup. Fees still apply. One load limit.
Contact Chris at 503-284-4392 r
YES!BRINGFurniture
Debris & JunkYard Debris
MetalBicycles (no charge)
NO!DON’T BRING
Paint, RecyclablesTree Stumps, Sod, DirtRefrigerators, Freezers
Regular Household GarbageHazardous Materials
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