Lost Oregon

Heard last night that the Golden Nugget (and Libbie’s next door) in downtown Milwaukie has been sold and closes next week. If you know what’s up, leave a comment? Will new owners renovate or ? Bottoms up.

The ornate depot of the Willamette Falls Railway at West Linn (then just West Oregon City) c. 1909. When built in 1893, the Oregon City Enterprise drily noted that "altogether the station is fitted up about ten times as fine as the Southern Pacific’s excuse for a depot."

That time of the year to dig this up from the grave again: lostoregon.org/2019/09/08/p...

Looking forward to reading this! www.wweek.com/arts/books/2...

Miles Davis- May 21, 1966 | Oriental Theatre, Portland. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B2q...

If you live in Oregon, you can subscribe for free. It's a wonderful read. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...

Snagged from Reddit. Meet The Corey. Scattered across Portland there are roughly 2,400 Corey hydrants, leftovers from a brief, awkwardly negotiated era in the city's water history. storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/dded...

Dig those color patterns. Portland Federal Savings, SW 5th and Washington. 📸 = postcard.

Whoa … a Pietro Belluschi home for sale in Oak Grove - listed for $750k?! www.redfin.com/OR/Portland/...

If you were around in 2005 to 2010 or so, there was ORBlogs - a site featuring a local blog directory. This one was a fave of mine - before Insta of course and pics that now are considered vintage; pisforpicture.blogspot.com

I’m walking parts of Portland’s Central Eastside to get inspired to write more & get to know the neighborhood better. Up first on the ol' blog: a look at a (very charming, I might add!) 1909 building that just got a recent major structural and code overhaul. lostoregon.org/2026/08/06/w...

There's a liquor license for something called GALLERIA + GROTTO, which appears to be in the former Doug Fir space on E Burnside www.portland.gov/ppd/liquor/d...

Oregon City picks new flag inspired by municipal elevator and Willamette Falls. www.opb.org/article/2026...

I love a good alley & homes that have attached businesses to them (ACUs). Portland has a lot of these older buildings - once you see one, you start to notice how many - a lot have been converted to garages but there are many with businesses in front still kicking it. Built: 1910.

In 1865, the sidewheel paddle steamship sank into the Pacific, taking over 200 souls and a fortune in gold. Divers have recovered some of the wreckage and gold coins, but many believe most of the treasure remains on the ocean floor. 06/08/2026 watch.opb.org/video/the-wr...

First-timer to the Jack London Revue (in the basement of The Rialto) and it was a good one to boot with Okonski.

The Society Hotel has been put up for sale? With "adaptive reuse potential." www.hotelnewsresource.com/article14191...

Imagine the unimagineable! www.cascadepbs.org/environment/...

www.wweek.com/food/2026/06...

Finally! (Here's a scan from the mid-50s AIA Guide to American Architecture book).

Adaptive reuse for the win! www.orartswatch.org/from-feed-st...

Portland, 1972. www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-dy...

My latest for @newschoolbeer.bsky.social - downtown Milwaukie is getting another brewery / restaurant in the retrofitted former Rexall Pharmacy: newschoolbeer.com/home/2026/5/... #adaptivereuse

Preservation + adaptive reuse + residential retail = win. Love this! (Paging Neil Heller!) Also, shout out to @bridgetownbites.bsky.social - they're doing some of the best restaurant coverage in town IMHO!

This 1890s photo of Portland keeps showing up and people keep arguing about where it was taken from, despite some very obvious clues in the photo. So I did what any sane and reasonable person would do and triangulated landmarks to prove things once and for all.

Happy to say that the Milwaukie City Hall National Register of Historic Places nomination I've been working on for the past year or so, is up for review in June! If you want to read it, here's the pdf: www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Docu...

Oregon authorities have identified the remains found in a car in the Columbia River as those of an Oregon family missing since 1958.

The downtown Milwaukie revival keeps on rolling! The Perry’s Pharmacy Building is getting new life as a restored downtown Milwaukie destination for retail businesses. Read more on le blog: lostoregon.org/2026/04/10/o...

I'm on TV! FOX 12 Oregon asked me to contribute to a story on Portland's streetcar history a while back and it finally aired this morning. They did a great job with their old/new transitions! www.kptv.com/2026/03/24/p...

www.oregonmetro.gov/stories/cons...

Golden hour at Gino’s. Found a seat at the bar. It will always be my favorite spot in Portland to sip on an Old Fashioned.

TIL: @colindickey.com (author of one of my fave books, Ghostland) has a newsletter, Glacial Errata: A weekly list of 5 strange, forgotten, or oddball things. It's already led me down many rabbit holes. glacialerrata.beehiiv.com (Bonus, it's on beehiiv, not that other one.)

A new (used) bookshop and art gallery has opened its doors in a ground-floor retail space across from Portland Public Library. www.bizjournals.com/portland/new...

Everyone gets a postcard!

Secret Portland - take a trip back to 2001! www.google.com/books/editio...

One of the last remaining cast-iron Victorian Italianate buildings in Portland. New life as grocery store with low-cost affordable produce, large event space + incubator and co-working space entrepreneurs can rent out.👍 www.bizjournals.com/portland/new...

"...when crews were tearing down the ceilings and walls of the Rite Aid store, they found massive wooden beams that revealed a surprisingly well-preserved timber interior..." Wha?! www.kptv.com/2026/01/19/a...

Mummy’s in downtown Portland closed in 2022. Sadly, I never went but it sounded like a great place to get food and a drink, listen to some jazz (says the 1980s Oregonian ad) and the owner’s stories. The building itself is unusual and intriguing for sure. lostoregon.org/2026/01/13/t...

The Acrop is for sale?! "...Allowable uses include: retail sales and services, office space, quick vehicle servicing, vehicle repair, self-service storage, household living, institutional uses, and limited manufacturing and other low-impact industrial uses..." www.loopnet.com/Listing/8325...

I wrote this a million years (OK 15) ago, but it still works. Support your local movie theaters! (Looking at you Netflix/WB merger...) lostoregon.org/2023/12/18/e...

The oldest homebrew shop in America is closing. FH Steinbart was not just a small business, though—it was a critical part of the connective tissue that helped make Portland Beervana.

"... many storefronts are in 'extreme need of renovation,' and landlords expected incoming tenants to cover nearly all the work, which is a lot of upfront money for something they were only renting and not owning..." eastoregonian.com/2025/11/26/p...

Very cool! And while you're at it, their wonderful magazine (published three times a year) is free of charge to Oregon residents.

I love a good lede! A shift in demographics. Affordable apartments transformed into luxury condos. A coffee shop called something like “Brew Slut.” www.latimes.com/business/rea...

Building Portland’s Memorial Coliseum: a Mid-Century Political Firestorm will be published by @arcadiapublishing.bsky.social April 14, 2026! Can’t wait to have this out in the world. I’ve been working on it since January 2014!

Hey holiday shoppers! Extra-soft knit crew-neck sweater celebrating the iconic Portland Building by Michael Graves, Portland, Oregon, 1982 architectural-icons.com/collections/...

From Reddit: A 3D map of downtown Portland. 😎 www.reddit.com/r/Portland/c...

Not Oregon related at all (unless Graves is mentioned I guess) but wanna see this one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVdp...