Entrance North Side

Globe Hotel, 1911

Recent demolition of the old Oregon Mountain Community building on the corner of NW Naito Parkway and Couch unveiled this "Entrance North Side" sign on the 1911 Globe Hotel at NW 1st and Couch. The OMC building was constructed in 1967 so this sign probably pre-dates that, as this appears to be an outdoor sign. There's also a fragment of a sign that appears to have been cut into by the second-floor door and painted over with the green paint. Hard to tell what that might have once said.

2011:

Apostolic Faith

Apostolic Faith Church Building, 1922

The Apostolic Faith Church built their handsome brick building at NW 6th and Burnside in 1922. They left the building in about 1982 and Starry Night (now Roseland Theater) moved in. This 6th Avenue marquee remained for another quarter century, the words "APOSTOLIC FAITH" slowly weathering away. The whole thing was replaced in 2009.

Incidentally, the front of the building was physically moved 20 feet to the north when Burnside was widened in 1930. This building also housed the "JESUS - THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD" sign on its roof, a Portland skyline fixture for many years.

2008:
2009:

1968:

Unknown Update

I featured this old sign in January 2008. At the time, I could make out only the top of it from several blocks away. Recently I was able to get this better view of it from the penthouse apartment in the 937 Condominium Building. Unfortunately I'm still unable to ready what it says, other than ending in "Company."

The building is on NW Everett between 6th and Broadway. My vantage point is high above NW 9th and Glisan.

2009:

Hotel Ray Update

1911

I guess if this was a good advertising location 90 years ago, it's a good advertising location now although it sure isn't pleasing to ghost sign fans. As I posted last September, the demolition of Cindy's Adult Bookstore at the corner of NW 4th and Burnside revealed the old Hotel Ray sign on the adjoining building. Well, 2009 brought this obnoxious tin "U-Store Self Storage" sign, placed squarely atop the old Hotel Ray painted sign. I've placed this in the "extinct" category because it doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. Sad.

2009:

Pomona Hotel

Erickson's Saloon Building, 1912

As long as I'm somewhat off topic with my last post, I'm going to include another sign on an Old Town/Chinatown building. I took the black-and-white photo in 1971 and the color photo in 2008, obviously after the sign was long gone. What I find particularly amusing is that in the old photo, on the sidewalk face (right side of the photo), was a nail hammered between the bricks, with a piece of rusted wire twisted around it. Incredibly that bit of wire is still there, 37 years later.

The Pomona Hotel gained notoriety when an arsonist torched the building in July, 1975, killing eight and injuring 26.

This was on NW 2nd just north of West Burnside.

1971:

2008:

The Pomona Hotel was housed in the Erickson's Saloon building which has a colorful past. This from the historical plaque mounted outside the building:

"Erickson's fame spread around the world, as sailors carried word of its 16-ounce nickel beer (hard drinks two for a quarter), its free meal of gargantuan proportions (as long as you kept drinking), its bar 684 feet in length and its delightful lady performers in the Cabaret Grill. Loggers, farm hands and other robust working men came to Erickson's, some to spend their stakes in one night revelries, buying drinks all around.

"The powerful and elite of Portland also came to Erickson's. The balcony afforded those of wealth a better view of the stage and of the 'sea of life' undulating below.

"On the top floor there were cardrooms and cribs - small cubicle-like rooms on either side of the hall - for entertainments of a more private kind."

Rooms

Glade Hotel, 1900

This hand-painted, vertical "Rooms" sign is certainly on a smaller scale than most signs I've featured here. I took the black-and-white photo of the "Hotel Glade - Weekly - Monthly - Steam Heat" in 1971 when this area was ground zero for Portland's flophouses. The current photo shows that the adjoining Fritz Hotel to the right has been restored to its original brick and glass configuration.

This is on NW 3rd, just north of West Burnside.

1971:

2008:

Unknown

Seamen's Bethel, 1881

Sandwiched between the old Seamen's Bethel building and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Society building is this unknown sign. It stretches the whole width of the west face of the Seamen's Bethel building but only a sliver of it can be seen from the street. What's visible might be a "5c Cigar" ad, and above that, "Rooming House." See for yourself on NW Davis between 3rd and 4th.

2008:

Bickel Block Building

Bickel Block Building, 1883

The Bickel Block Building underwent a complete renovation the last couple of years. Many great old signs were lost in the process. Some of the signs attested to the building's early years: "BOILERS" "MACHINERY" and "LOGGING" were a few that were visible before being painted over. Read more of the building's history below. You can see this colorful building from the corner of NW Couch and Naito Parkway.

2006:

2008:

2006:

2008:


2006:

2008:

Thanks to thrift store cowboy for use of his "before" 2006 photos.


The gothic Bickel Block Building was designed in 1883 by Justus Krumbein. It has complex geometric patterns in its detailing and is an example of cast-iron architecture built in downtown Portland in the 1880s. The intricate cast-iron columns were made by Architectural Iron Works of San Francisco—the western branch of the famous foundry begun by Daniel Badger in New York in 1842.

The Bickel Block was owned by German candy-maker Frederick Bickel. He was a business partner of Frank Dekum, and the two opened their first confectionary shop in Portland thirty years before this building's construction. With the success of their candy business, both men began to invest in real estate development in downtown Portland.

The Bickel Block Building originally housed the Parke & Lacey Machinery Co., which used the north half for retail and the south half for manufacturing and warehousing. Parke & Lacey made and sold engines, boilers, sawmill machinery, logging cars, and so forth. The Fraser Paper Co. bought the building in the 1950s.

Three historic buildings—the Bickel Block Building, the Skidmore Block Building, and the White Stag and Hirsch-Weiss Building—will form the new White Stag Block that will house the University of Oregon's Portland programs.

(from: http://pdx.uoregon.edu/index.php?p=about/history)

Povey Bros. Glass Co.

1904

In December 2007 I wrote about the "Office and Factory" sign that stuck up above the roofline of the building at NW 5th and Flanders. Thanks to thrift store cowboy who snapped a photo circa 2000, we know a little more about that business.

When the building at NW 4th and Flanders (bottom photo below) was demolished, it revealed this great "POVEY BROS. GLASS CO." sign. Brothers John and David Povey started their glass firm in 1888. John died in 1917, David in 1924. The firm was sold to a Seattle company in 1929 and disappeared soon after. Stained glass was commonly called Art Glass in that era.

Old Town Lofts was constructed on the site, covering this excellent ghost sign (2008 photo).

2000:

2008:

2000 (demolished building):

Hotel Ray

1911

I'd heard that the old Cindy's Adult Bookstore on the corner of NW 4th and Burnside was being demolished which got my ghost sign instincts all atingle. Instincts proved correct when I found that demolition had exposed this old "HOTEL RAY" sign on the adjoining building. That building, housing Chen's Good Taste Restaurant and Vegetarian House restaurant, dates to 1911.

I don't know what is being built on that site but I don't expect the sign to be visible for too long.

2008:

Biltmore Hotel

Biltmore Hotel, 1905

The Biltmore Hotel sign was restored during recent building renovation by Portland's Housing Development Center. The hotel originally housed dock workers and other men in single-occupancy rooms. It stands at NW 6th and Everett.

2003:

2008:



(2003 source: portlandmaps.com)

Foster Hotel

Foster Hotel, now Lyndon Musolf Manor, 1910

The Foster Hotel sign is probably on the endangered list. Built in 1910 as the working class Foster Hotel, the building is currently undergoing seismic and cosmetic upgrades. The side pictured here is under plastic wrap right now; once it's removed will the sign still be there?

The Foster Hotel was renamed Lyndon Musolf Manor in 1998 in honor of Innovative Housing Inc.'s founding Board President. You can see this sign, or what's left of it, from NW 3rd and Everett.

2008:

Forbidden City Update

I caught the old Forbidden City sign between vinyl advertising overlays. It's much easier on the eyes than today's garish posters but still a tragic loss of a Chinatown icon.

2008:

Unknown 2

Building: 1904

I can't get up high enough to see what this sign says. It's on the west-facing side of one of the Everett Station Lofts buildings on NW Everett between Broadway and 6th. I had to back up to the park blocks on NW Flanders to see this much of it.

1996:

2007:

Details

Neville Bag Company, 1905

Down at sidewalk level, look closely to see the remains of this sign. "Merchant" and "Train" appear to straddle a window; I believe the window was added sometime after the sign was painted. It's on the north side of the Three Lions Bakery shop at NW 5th and Davis in the Neville Bag Company building.

Hotel Butte

Hotel Butte, 1912

The old Hotel Butte, above Sisters of the Road Cafe at NW 6th and Davis, at one time advertised on the west side of their building. The hotel now provides subsidised housing through Central City Concern. Check out this ghost sign at NW Broadway between Couch and Davis.

2007:

Seattle House

Building, 1984

Around the corner from the OBAK sign in my previous post, the east wall of the same building has layers of old advertising. "Seattle House..." something once graced the top. Below that, "Export" of some kind appears to cover another old OBAK sign. Hard to make out because of deterioration and difficult to see from the street, stand on SW 2nd and Couch to see what you can.

2007:

OBAK

Building, 1894

American Tobacco Company's Obak Mouthpiece Cigarettes was an issuer of early 20th Century baseball cards, primarily from the West Coast minor league teams, i.e., Pacific Coast League. This sign was probably quite striking in its day. Note the small "Rooms" sign below.

This is visible from NW 3rd and Burnside.

2007:

20 Mule

Simon Building Facade, 1892

Very little is left of this 20 Mule Team Borax sign; besides the obvious destruction of most of it, fading over the years has left it almost unreadable. The building was destroyed by fire and the facade is the only remaining part of the building that once occupied this property. See what remains on NW 3rd between Couch and Davis.

1996:
2007:

Philip

Grove Hotel: 1907

The battered old Grove Hotel, owned by the Housing Authority of Portland, hosts this battered old "Philip" sign. Fading and just out of reach of the graffiti taggers, this sign can be seen from the corner of NW 4th and Couch.

1996:
2007: