2 photos of Bella Grove Plantation in White Castle, Louisiana

I found 2 photos of Belle Grove (Iberville Parish, Louisiana just outside White Castle). It was a 75 room mansion built in 1857 by John Andrews. It was torn town in the 1950's.

Wonderful Victorian detail with old Mary Blair

I'm not sure where this home is but the photo was taken on Jan 8, 1921 of Aunt Mary Blair (Aged 86). The photo was taken by Mary Dockham Hall-Blair with her new camera that she received on Christmas. Wonderful porch details.

Pair of bungalow postcards - Portland OR

Thanks to David Kramer, the mystery of these wonderful bungalow homes is solved. First, these homes are not even in Portland at all. They are both in Pasadena, CA and are still standing. The top home is the F.W. Hawks House the second is the M.E. Cole House. Portland has it's share of amazing bungalows including the Wilbur Reid house but these postcards are a LIE!

Mystery of Lindeth Cottage at 47th and Stark St in Portland OR

Located at 47th and Stark is the most beautiful stone wall with carved entrance columns. "LINDETH" on one side and "COTTAGE" on the other. Today the wall is in front of a rather modern church structure. What ever could this Lindeth Cottage be? I figured I'd start with the Sanborn maps. These maps were created for fire insurance purposes and exist for Portland in various years (1889, 1901, 1905, 1908-09, and 1924). Up until 1909-1910 this land would mostly have been farmland that later became Laurelhurst and surrounding developments. Checking the 1908-09 maps show no structure as suspected. The next available year of 1924 also shows no structure. Something that lived there had a very short life. The last piece of the puzzle I was able to determine was from the City of Portland itself. The current property address, when searched, shows a construction date of 1917. Odd given the modern church but that must in some way be tied to the original structure. I still have no idea what the building looked like. Just a block away is the Wilbur Reid house built in 1914. It's a rather famous Arts & Crafts residence. Does anyone have photos of this cottage?

View of NE 37th and Sandy before I-84. Portland, Oregon 1947

Hard to find view of the future site of I-84 (before structure clearing). The red X's show a few of the houses torn down to create the freeway. At lower right those houses were replaced by a large grassy space bordering the freeway. The houses torn down at left make up the border of the concrete wall bordering the freeway. All of the houses on the North side of Senate are still there today, though their backyard is a freeway wall. This photo is courtesy the Portland City Archive.

Chamber of Commerce Fire of 1906. Portland Oregon.

Wonderful view of not only the fire, which is why this image was taken by the Portland Fire Department, but also of the city itself. None of these buildings in this photo exist today. Note all the people on the roofs watching! I'm particularly interested in knowing more about the building the that "WILSON HIGH BALL" sign is attached to! It's for whiskey so you know it's got to be good!

2 early views of Portland by Abell & Son photographers

I purchased these photos as digital scans from the owner (they were selling for a FORTUNE on ebay back in 2007). Not the best scans and the photos both have some damage but these images are spectacular views from vantage points that I have not seen before.

East Side School, Portland Oregon.

This school building was originally located near (on the same property or close) as the current Washington High School. That would make it the first of 3 structures serving the inner Eastside. The second was built in 1906 and burned down in the 20's. The third is what we have today. This is believed to be the only image of this school before it's expansion (see PPS website where they have it miscategorized as "Old Central" that used to be downtown). This photo was purchased from the Buckman family.

Frank Dekum house in Portland Oregon c. 1864

Wonderful old photo of the Frank Dekum house. It was built in 1864 and was originally located on the entire block between 13th, 14th, Morrison, and Yamhill. Unknown architect. I do not know when this house was demolished but this block is completely filled with the 405 freeway today which opened in the late 60's early 70's depending on section. Most likely it was torn down before that as there are very few images of this house. In the background you can see the original Portland High School which was built in 1883.

Brand new house Albany, Oregon 1914

Wonderful photo postcard of a brand new home in Albany OR. Mailed in 1914 to Mrs. O. K. Wilcox in Fruitland, Idaho. I just love these early images where you really see how these houses were built!

Schulz Studio photograph of State School for the Deaf

Wonderful original image of the State School for the Deaf in Vancouver. Originally built in 1889 this photo was probably taken in the early 20th century given the ivy growth. This building was eventually called Mead Hall. It was condemned by the Vancouver fire marshal just after WWII. The exact date it was lost is unknown. Great image of a lost piece of Vancouver History.

1602 8th Street in an unknown city/town. Ideas?

There are a number of "1602 8th St" addresses in and around where I found this photo (Portland, OR). For example: Gresham, Oregon City, Columbia City, Washougal, and Camas all have this address. Only Oregon city has a google street view, which does not appear to match, and I haven't made it to all of the locations to verify. Portland uses Avenue for it's numbered streets (after the 1930's) and this address is fairly central and commercial in both NE and SE so I've ruled out Portland.