Category: Local History
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Stones of Witch’s Castle
The Stone House in Portland’s Forest Park is also known as the Witch’s Castle and the basalt stone work was sourced from Rocky Butte. If you have been to the Witch’s Castle, you know its a kind of oddity of the city, a place to bring out of town visitors to experience the lush forest…
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“A light blanket of snow” takes down an Armory
The Hill Military Academy at Rocky Butte built a new Armory in 1931. It was built by The Austin Company, who also constructed other Portland buildings such as The Lane–Miles Standish Printing Plant (1526 NW 17th Ave) and the Sixth Church of Christ (935 SW Columbia). The Armory was a very large space covered by…
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Winner Winner Turkey Dinner at Rocky Butte
The cross country running competition on Thanksgiving Day in 1934 featured live poultry as a winning trophy. First place took home the Turkey. Second place a fat live goose. Third place a vociferous quaking duck. Fourth place a chicken. Fifth place a fresh uncooked egg!
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Rain in the Runnels
Man holding a sign that says Fremont Drive pump station 1966, A2012-005 On Rocky Butte, the drainage structures at the road edge are called runnels. Built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration they are constructed of stone which was quarried from the butte itself. Using hand tools craftsmen shaped many thousands of linear feet…
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Hill’s Harmony Hill
In 1924 Colonel Hill of the military academy wanted a new name for Rocky Butte, where the new school was soon to be located. The Oregonian printed an article saying “…he wants it with meaning, neat and not gaudy. “Hill’s Hill” would be full of euphony until some careless one forgot the dots and wrote…
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The Ornamental Range Finder and Tablets
Portland Parks and Rec recently restored the viewfinder and plaque at the crest of Rocky Butte, at Joseph Wood Hill Park! This “Ornamental Range Finder” as once referenced shows us the direction and elevation of specific landmarks that are visible from the vantage point. The viewfinder was most likely installed around 1935-37, during the initial…
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Hiking with the Physical Cultural Union Club
The Mazamas, Camera Clubs, Auduboners, Geography students, Physical Culturists and the Hi-Ki-Ki club all hiked Rocky Butte over hundred years ago. And even before that, the Chinook Speaking-band of the Cascade/Watlala people hiked and hunted deer around the Butte. Back then, it looked very different and the landscape was mostly undeveloped. Nowadays, even though the…
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The Flaming Jalopies
In 1938 Rocky Butte was the location of public “dumpings” by the Automotive Dealers Association. It was a promotional event to buy back steel from condemned car models and promote buying new cars. As you can see from this film footage the Butte was barren of trees in this era, people lined up along the…
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Tunnel Vision
The Rocky Butte Road was seen as the first promontory along the Historic Columbia River Highway. The build offered both an opportunity and a challenge. It was designed so that the road was curved to fit to the landscape, basalt, so local that it was quarried from the butte itself, was placed in stone footings…
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Archival Finds and Landscape Changes
Visiting the city and county archives is something anyone can do! Let me tell you it was a breeze, the faculty were super helpful, the requested documents were pull and prepared ahead of time, and they even offer to digitally upload any particular maps, photos or documents and send them to you! Here is an…
Rocky Butte Preservation Society 