Portland Then/Now: West Burnside St. and SW Vista Ave.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
W Burnside St. from NW 23rd Ave. and SW Vista Ave., April 6, 1967: City of Portland Archives. A2001-007.666
W. Burnside St. from NW 23rd Ave., June, 2015. Photo by Byron Beck.
THEN: According to portlandoregongov.com Burnside Street originally was named B Street as part of the "Alphabet District" in Northwest Portland that was laid out by Captain Couch.
B Street extended from the waterfront to 16th Avenue, where it joined Washington Street to continue westward. By 1892, the street's name was changed to Burnside, after David W. Burnside, an early Portland merchant.
Washington Street west of 16th became Burnside Street in 1933 when the city systemized the street names and numbers. A couple of years later, property owners petitioned to change Burnside's name to Bonneville, but historical organizations protested and the name remained Burnside.
Eventually Burnside would find it's way all the way up the hill including at the intersection where Northwest 23rd Avenue would cross Burnside to meet up with Southwest Vista Avenue.
In 1967 La Rue Restaurant stood at the North corner of West Burnside. Not long after that it would become a Sambo's and eventually a Denny's. Gas stations dotted the area as did an American Savings Bank. According to a comment on vintageportland.com, "the cement pillars in front of the old Murlark Building( on the left Northeast corner ) was ther eto keep run-away cars from crashing through the retail stores ...Murlark Building had quite a history as an early dance studio (with famous pupils including) Isadora Duncan’s brother and John Reed’s wife, Louise Bryant.
NOW: Although one of the gas stations remain, most of the businesses that once surrounded this intersection no longer exist Henry Thiele's Restaurant, Youngland's children clothing store and several mens and womens boutiques no longer serve the area.
Sambo's/Denny's is now an empty office building, and the bank has become an insurance agency. What hasn't changed is the fact that many of the original apartment buildings still exist including the nearby Fordham Apartments.
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