Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 15:28:12 PM EDT
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(8pm~
- promoted by RiaD)
First Avenue in Portland was like Delancy Street in New York City. There were butchers and little grocery stores, Mosler's Bakery and Dr. Wolfe's barbershop. In those days not only did the barber cut hair and do shaves but if you had a problem he'd put leeches on. - Jerry Stern
The tight ethnic community had kosher butcher shops, bakeries, synagogues and Italian delis before a series of highway projects cut it to shreds. By the time the 1960s urban renewal project razed 54 blocks, many immigrant families had left South Portland for more prestigious neighborhoods like Laurelhurst and Irvington.
Let's go find what's left of Old South Portland. |
| JayinPortland :: Searching for Old South Portland |
Blight sure is a terrible thing...
No comment.
Anyways...
(pdf) Nina Weinstein (pdf), who grew up in South Portland, remembers her mother's quest for Friday night chicken: "Front St., before it was developed, was produce row," she said. "My mother would buy a live chicken and carry it all the way up to Mr. Levine, the shochet. We'd say, 'Mom, for a nickel you could ride the St.car.' She said, 'I wouldn't think of it. What if the chicken squawked?'"
North (upper) South Portlanders lived roughly north of Southwest Lincoln Street, attended Shattuck School and played basketball at B'nai B'rith on Southwest 13th Avenue. South South Portlanders went to Failing School and the Neighborhood House where everyone met for Hebrew School. Several at the table also enjoyed the Manley Community Center. Run by the Women's Home Missionary Society, it moved from Southwest First Avenue and Southwest Caruthers Street next to Failing School in 1929.
Neighborhood House, was the center of Jewish activity and offered the immigrants English classes, a clubhouse, sewing classes, and regular lectures and discussion groups.
A 1960s Urban Renewal Project demolished much of the old neighborhood
[Y]oung married couples liked the new Hillsdale suburbs with modern houses, larger yards and nearby shopping malls.
Some of their work remains -
One of Portland's six Carnegie Libraries (no longer a part of the Multnomah County Library System) -
The Portland Aerial Tram did not run in over the neighborhood in those times, however -
The resourceful Ben Holladay operated Portland's first horse-drawn streetcar in 1872 along First Street.
The late Great Northwest Bookstore -
The knowledge these shelves have held...
Garibaldi Grocery was the old-type store with wooden floors and the smell of Italian foods. There was romano and provolone cheese, salami, dried codfish, and barrels of green olives in brine. - Joe Colasuonno
"How many groceries did we have in South Portland?" Mutzy asked and everyone started counting. "Shneiderman's, Korsun's, Calistro and Halperin's..."
Missing its mini toy horsey...
My father was a junk peddler. He'd wake up at seven, have mush for breakfast, and harness up his horse and wagon. He'd collect bottles, sacks, copper - things like that. Once in a while he'd find an antique and make a little more money. - Leo Greenstein
"Nobody had money, and we were so close," Teta added, reflecting on his old neighborhood. "We always say-there will never be another South Portland." |
