Alameda Old House History

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Connecting past and present in Portland's historic homes buildings and neighborhoods

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End of an Era: Public Transit through the central core of Alameda is over, ending a 116-year tradition of transit service
Aug 24, 2026 · original
Streetcars and buses like these have served the Alameda neighborhood since 1910. TriMet service cuts made in August 2026 ended a 116-year tradition of transit service to the neighborhood. This photo–showing the old Alberta Streetcar and its bus replacement–ran in the 1947 Portland Transit Company annual report to illustrate the end of streetcar service and the beginning of bus service on that route. The caption: “Walt Baker, trolley skipper since 1911, greets Merritt Lutman, pilot of a new Mack bus.” It’s official: the TriMet bus service cuts and route adjustments made starting today represent the first time in 116 years the majority of the Alameda neighborhood has been disconnected from public transit to downtown Portland. On August 23rd, TriMet officially eliminated two bus lines completely citing low ridership, and reduced service on 34 other lines, including Bus 17, which since 1948
Restoring the soul of a house
Jul 3, 2026 · original
The turret house at 3880 NE Wistaria, built in 1928, has been through hard times the last 30 years. A Portland brother and sister duo who restore old homes purchased the house in February 2026 and are underway with restoration. New owners of the turret house at 3880 NE Wistaria have begun restoration work on the unique and visible 1928 home, tackling the biggest challenge first: decades of unaddressed water damage to the garage, porch and southern exterior wall. Siblings Amber Chang and Kyle Lindros have restored other homes and have a track record for attention to historic detail and quality work. But they’ve never seen anything quite like the amount of restoration work that needs to be done here, or the unique architectural and historical aspects of the house. See our post from earlier this year about the history of the house. The brother-and-sister team—who grew up in Eugene—acquired
42nd and Fremont: July 1933
Apr 9, 2026 · original
It’s been a busy winter preparing history studies for properties all over Portland, working on the historic newspaper project and some other deep dives, and making presentations on local history topics. It’s what we love to do, so we’re happily busy. But all that work has borrowed time from the blog, which has been on the quiet side lately. Let’s break the quiet with an interesting photograph related to other photos and stories we’ve shared here. Check it out: NE 42nd and Fremont in the Beaumont neighborhood, on Thursday, July 27th, 1933. Click in for a good look and then we’ll discuss. July 27, 1933, NE 42nd and Fremont. Courtesy of Portland City Archives P/2763 First things first: the view is looking to the east-northeast from Fremont Street showing the northeast corner of the intersection with NE 42nd Avenue. Below is a contemporary photo that will help you place this view (note the c
Rose City Herald: Historic Northeast Portland newspaper opens window to the past
Mar 4, 2026 · original
Rose City Herald front page, August 29, 1930 The Rose City Herald was a weekly broadsheet newspaper published from 1922-1944 covering the middle neighborhoods of Northeast Portland: Rose City Park, Gregory Heights, Irvington, Alameda, Beaumont, Wilshire, Sullivan’s Gulch and Kerns. That far back, the name “Hollywood” had not yet been coined: that would have to wait for opening of the Hollywood Theater in 1926, when the surrounding neighborhood took on the name of the iconic Sandy Boulevard theater. This winter, I’ve had the privilege of perusing more than 200 editions of the Herald, which were bound into four large books from 1928-1929-1930-1932. For almost 100 years, the books have been in the careful stewardship of Hollywood business leaders; the last 50 years in the library of Paul Clark, informally known as the “mayor of Hollywood.” Paul Clark is a one-man institution of memory and b
Spring history walks and program calendar set
Feb 20, 2026 · original
Planning for spring and summer season guided history walks is underway: I’ll be leading four walks for the Architectural Heritage Center through Northeast Portland neighborhoods. Registration (and fee) with AHC is required for these, and they’ll send you meet-up details as well. Coming right up on Friday, March 6th at 5:00, I’m doing a free program at the Oregon City Library looking at Portland’s historic love affair with the Willamette River: Windemuth and Bundy’s: Where Portland Played in the River . The OC Library requests registration (which is free!). Just an FYI, I’m always glad to consider leading walks and programs for groups interested in exploring local history. Let’s talk if you’re interested. Meanwhile, have a look at the calendar: We won’t be walking to California like this Portland mother-daughter duo from 1915 who always inspire us. But we will be walking! Join the fun. Sa
Old house research topic on Echoes from the Attic podcast
Jan 20, 2026 · original
Recently, we had a chance to visit with Jennie Fennelle, a northeast Portland resident and old house dweller who also runs an interesting podcast called Echoes from the Attic . Jennie wanted to talk about the discovery, intrigue and challenge of researching old houses and the notion that every house has a story (so many stories) which often lead to other stories, insights and questions. We had a nice chat, which she turned into Episode 5, a 20-minute piece that covers a little bit about the why and the how of old house research. Might spark your imagination to start doing some digging of your own ( here are some suggestions about getting started). Our favorite from Jennie’s podcast line-up is her first, about the mystique and sentimentality of estate sales, but the whole premise of the show is worth a listen. Happy listening!
Batch of builder profiles for the holidays!
Dec 20, 2025 · original
From the Oregon Journal, July 10, 1910 Our research into Portland’s early homebuilders continues, with three more profiles which illustrate the range and type of people and companies who built our homes in the early years of the 20th century. These three join more than 40 other builder profiles on The Builders page , including mom-and-pop builders and large scale operators who shaped the neighborhoods we know today. Be sure to have a look and see if you find your address or neighborhood in these lists. George A. Ross (1877-1958) was one of the prolific builders whose company would be working on multiple homes at the same time. He did it all: builder, designer ( but not a registered architect ), financier, marketer. Like many of our builders, he was an immigrant who started out by building a home for himself, sold it, and went on to build (and live in) many others. George E. Weller (1870-
Wistaria Drive landmark for sale
Dec 3, 2025 · original
It’s always been a visual landmark on NE Wistaria Drive: the 1928 turreted English Tudor style house that anchors the big downhill bend at the confluence of Wistaria, NE 41st and Cedar Chavez Boulevard. The tower with its tip-top weather vane, 360-degree windows and tent-like roof dormers. The prominent gable ends and half-timbering. The brick, decorated entry way. They don’t build them like this anymore. For more than 30 years, we’ve walked by and felt the cry for help from the house and its former owner—who passed away in August—as the weeds took over, the windows cracked, the porch sagged and garbage piled up. Neighbors are paying extra attention this week because the Wistaria turret house is now for sale. Many are hoping for a capable, patient, history-focused buyer who can bring it back to life. We walked through this week to take a measure of how much work there is to be done. It i
Needle in a haystack: Finding one old photo
Nov 27, 2025 · original
Looking north through southeast Portland and along the shoulder of Ross Island, about 1925. The arrow shows the approximate location of a house somewhere in the mist we wanted to know more about. Image courtesy Portland City Archives, A2011-006. Sleuthing old photos to determine location, context and insights is a favorite thing to do; the Photo Detective category here on the blog is testament. But sometimes, the biggest mystery is just finding the old photo. Such was the case recently when a reader wrote seeking an assist in locating a photograph of a house fixed in childhood memory from the 1950s: his grandparents’ home on the bluff above Ross Island, torn down more than 50 years ago to make room for McLoughlin Boulevard. No known photos of the house had survived. But in his memory, a version of the house was still there. Burnished over the years and important because it was a house th
Meet The Builders: Update
Oct 16, 2025 · original
In our continuing quest to learn more about the people who designed and built Portland’s neighborhoods and homes, we’re adding nine more builder biographies bringing our total number of homebuilder and architect profiles to 41. You can find these profiles under The Builder’s tab here on the AH blog. Between them, these nine builders were responsible for hundreds of Portland homes. In this latest batch, you’ll notice the continued theme: Portland’s housing stock from 1900-1950 was built primarily by immigrants, with Swedish immigrants figuring prominently. Here are some highlights: Horace Askwith : Built in Laurelhurst and Alameda before taking on the job as Superintendent Architect for the Oregon-Washington Railway and Navigation Company. Robert Beat: the Scottish designer and builder who built more than 100 houses in Irvington, where he lived. The gold standard of Portland homebuilding.

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