The tour is billed as Underground Portland--modeled after "Underground Atlanta" and "Underground Seattle"--but unlike those two cities...well...there aren't any real tunnels under Portland. There used to be. At least there were for the first couple of streets up from the river. They were used to move cargo to and from the ships when the water level fluctuated in the river.
The lack of tunnels doesn't mean there is no underworld to Portland, however. Why, in the 1950's Bugsy Malone came here to make Portland into a Las Vegas North. It rained for four days according to our guide and he swore he would "never again set foot in that f*ckin' place!"
Going a little further back in time, Portland had the distinction of rounding up and holding all it's Japanese-American citizens and becoming the first "Jap free city on the Pacific coast" four months before the federal government ordered the Japanese to internment camps.
Tribute to the Japanese-Americans who were sent to internment campsand to those who served in the armed forces during WWII
Japanese-Americans served with distinction in WWII--in Europe. One unit honored on Portland's waterfront earned more purple hearts than there were men enlisted. When it was realized that no minorities had been awarded the Medal of Honor, (it took until Viet Nam) this same unit was awarded 47 of them.
White citizens bought up all the confiscated real estate and the Chinese were forced to life in what had once been Japtown. After the war, rents in the new Chinatown started rising and the Chinese moved out. They still haven't returned to "Chinatown" so Portland has the only Chinatown without Chinese residents.
Chinatown is a ghost town.Stepping back to the 1920s and the depression...the Wobblies had a huge organization here. Their leader, a man named Burns, spent a good deal of time in jail because of his union...and communist...activities.
Go back a few more years and Portland could brag that it had one of the largest KKK organizations in the northwest. Only problem was that they had very few minorities. So they picked on the Catholics. Got laws passed about wearing religious clothing in public schools so as to prevent nuns from teaching in them. Problem was the cross was deemed religious clothing and the Lutherans, who also wore crosses, soon put the Clan out of business.
Step back into the late 1800s when Portland was a bustling port and you would find all of the waterfront engaged in prostitution, drinking, gambling and the practice of shanghaiing.
Erickson Saloon 1895 Erickson occupied a whole block. First floor bar. Second floor bar and gambling. Third floor freelance prostitutes who paid rent to Erickson. (A building on the corner also held prostitutes who worked for Erickson.)
Kells Irish Pub 1889
The indoor market of 1882.Go back to it's founding and you have controversy, too. Two men founded the city by claiming 160 acres via the homestead act. Cost of the land? Just the 25 cents it cost to file the papers. A short time later (and before the city actually began to grow) one of the gents sold his share to a Mr. Lovejoy for $50 thus making a right nice little profit. Problem is, he never paid his partner the 12 1/2 cents for his share in the first place.
Look at a map of the streets of Portland and you'll see one section where the streets run in a grid aligned perfectly with magnetic north. Those same streets all make a dog-leg turn along a single line where one homestead plot (the original) abuts a second homestead plot settled by a sea captain who knew the importance of steering by True North.
Guide Terry points out the original homestead,streets and such on a modern map.
Also. Look at the names of the unnumbered streets and avenues and you will come across the names of the characters in The Simpsons. Matt Groening is from Portland.
Many of the old buildings of the 1880s have ornate pillars, columns and scroll work. And much of it is painted iron.
Terry prepares to demonstrate the Ferrous architectureof the Old Town. The magnet sticks.
Marble and stone was expensive. Cast iron was cheap and could be ordered via catalog from a number of companies.
Decorative work like this could be had from Sears or Montgomery Ward.
When the Statue of Liberty opened in New York, all the catalogshad a knock-off of her available for a price.
Portland prides itself on being the home of the weird.
They encourage folks to ride bike and skateboards on the street and there's no helmet law for those brave (or perhaps it should be stupid) souls.
It's perfectly legal to be nude on the street...just don't try to turn someone on with suggestive movements. That's illegal. Hence the midnight nude bicycle rides.
Hell, one of their former mayors once posed for a famous poster as a dirty old man flashing a stature. Caption? "Expose yourself to fine art."
Then there are these:
Portland is home to the VooDoo Doughnut
Complete with voodoo pins, the doughnut is filled with jellyso it bleeds realistically.
They once made some exotic flavors...until the FDA told them to stop mixing over the counter drugs with food. I mean, Pepto-bismol icing?
Finally, as you walk about the city keep an eye out for 25 foot long acupuncture needles stuck into the earth. They are marking sites of complete and total weirdness int he city that is playing havoc with the feng shui
Portland is a warped place. Very warped.
If a Portland resident comes up to you and says, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" run like hell!
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