Sight #4 Produce Stand

Produce Stand

219 SW 6th Ave., Portland, OR 97204 (link is external)

Produce Stand, ca. 1919

In the early 20th century, the Willamette Valley promised agricultural fecundity. Farms sprouted up throughout the County. (We even have the list of registered farms from 1900-1965.) The history of farming in the area is rich with multicultural heritage. Discriminatory policies affected where immigrants were allowed to settle or own property. Many Japanese immigrants farmed in the Montavilla area. In Goose Hollow, Chinese farmers tilled the land around Tanner Creek. Italian truck farms started cropping up in 1910 in rural Multnomah County.

Writing on the verso (backside) of this particular photograph indicates that it was taken around 1919. The address provided is 219 W Sixth St., which would have placed it near or in the neighborhoods known at that time as Chinatown and Nihonmachi (Japantown). Assuming, that is, that the address ever existed...

Maps from the time period do not show the numbered streets in this part of downtown Portland as having a directional prefix. The index to Portland's Great Street Renumbering of the 1930s supports this. It indicates that Sixth Street (note the absence of "West") became SW Sixth Avenue. Further, at that time there was no 219 address on the original Sixth St. During the Great Renumbering, 67 Sixth Street became 219 SW Sixth Avenue. At no point has research into this location revealed there ever was a 219 W Sixth Street at all. A building constructed in 1927 now occupies the 219 SW Sixth Avenue location. Do you have photographs that confirm the location of this produce stand? If so, let us know!

The next mystery about this photograph is on the left side. What product is encased in those packages with the camels on the front? Do you know? Tell us!