04.29.2024

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🪧 Call it a sign

Portland’s iconic neon signs shine light on local history

An animated slideshow of neon signs in Portland, Oregon.

Never want Portland’s neon signs to fade into history? PDX Neon advocates for their preservation and connects owners with local resources. | Photos by Cambrie Juarez, PDXtoday

Neon signs evoke a vintage sort of charm. Their foremost purpose is a practical one, providing need-to-know information for passersby. And yet the iconic glow and vivid color they cast can pierce the darkest, stormiest night, granting them a lighthouse-like power that seems to say “come in, take a load off.”

In the US, the neon heyday stretched from about the 1920s to the 1950s; Los Angeles and New York’s Times Square were among the earliest domestic destinations to adopt the French invention. While many of the most iconic vintage neon signs can now be found in Las Vegas, Portland’s unique collection of neon is nothing to scoff at.

Turn off the lights and step back in time with us as we tour the Rose City’s neon scene.

A neon sign of a red rose with a green stem and leaves. — Portland Commissioner Randy Leonard spearheaded the installation of the neon rose to preserve the building it stands atop, which was designed by local architect John Yeon.
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Photo by Another Believer

Portland Rose Festival Foundation, 1020 SW Naito Pkwy.

This small building in Tom McCall Waterfront Park once housed a restaurant before becoming the headquarters of the organization behind the Portland Rose Festival. The neon red rose atop its roof was erected in 2009.

White Stag sign, 70 NW Couch St.

In 1940, a beet sugar plant called White Satin Sugar forever changed downtown Portland’s skyline by installing an animated 50-ft-tall sign featuring 1,100 feet of neon tubing and 500 incandescent lamps. It was altered to advertise the White Stag company in 1957; the “Made in Oregon” lettering replaced the company’s name in 1997.

Portland Outdoor Store, 304 SW Thirrd Ave.

Customers from around the world have shopped for cowboy boots, hats, and saddles (and enjoyed complimentary whiffs of leather) at this business since 1914. The storefront added its iconic neon sign around 1946 or 1947.

A pink and teal neon sign with a windmill and words that read "Miller Paint." — Security Signs, which has also done work for the Hollywood Theatre and Providence Park, restored Miller Paint’s neon windmill.
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Photo by Cambrie Juarez, PDXtoday

Miller Paint, 317 SE Grand Ave.

Ernest Carl Bernard Mueller left his homeland of Germany in 1888, arriving in Portland a year later. He founded a paint and wallpaper business and its flagship location opened on Southeast Grand Avenue in 1926. A 10-ft-tall neon sign featuring a windmill went up in 1938; it was restored when the company celebrated 130 years.

Visit a neon museum

Events

Monday, April 29

Kanpai Japan Series Kick off Reception | Monday, April 29 | 6:30-8:30 p.m. | Portland Japanese Garden, 611 SW Kingston Ave., Portland | $100-$120 | Enjoy Japanese delicacies like wagyu beef, sushi, chawan-mushi, desserts, and sake as this month-long celebration organized by PSU’s Center for Japanese Studies gets underway.
Portland Winterhawks vs. Prince George Cougars | Monday, April 29 | 7 p.m. | Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 300 Winning Way, Portland | $33-$47 | The WHL’s Western Conference Final pits two of the best offensive and defensive teams in this year’s playoffs against each other in an icy showdown of skill.

Tuesday, April 30

Reel Science: “Heceta Bank: Oregon’s Hidden Wonder” | Tuesday, April 30 | 6:30-8 p.m. | OMSI’s Empirical Theater, 1945 SE Water Ave., Portland | $7-$8 | See this OSU-made film about an intricate submerged ecosystem 35 miles offshore from Cape Perpetua, then hear from marine researchers and filmmakers.

Wednesday, May 1

Eileen Garvin in Conversation With Elizabeth Rusch | Wednesday, May 1 | 7 p.m. | Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St., Portland | Free | The local author stops by to share her new book “Crow Talk,” which tells a “moving story of hope, healing, and unexpected friendship.”

Thursday, May 2

Free First Thursday | Thursday, May 2 | 10 a.m.-8 p.m. | Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave., Portland | Free | Explore the museum’s exhibits, including “Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks,” and programming at PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater.
First Thursday Street Gallery | Thursday, May 2 | 5-9 p.m. | Northwest 13th Avenue between Hoyt and Kearney streets, Portland | Free | Artists display their works in the street and galleries stay open late, giving community members the chance to immerse themselves in an aspect of Portland’s vibrant creative culture.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

News Notes

Edu

Markham Elementary School students will start the 2024-25 school year at Jackson Middle School. Students were relocated to other nearby schools after Markham sustained extensive damage during the January ice storm; Portland Public Schools said last month lengthy repairs would keep Markham from reopening before the next school year. (KOIN)

Closing

Boxer has closed all four of its ramen restaurants. The small chain opened in Portland in 2013 as Boxer Ramen and went on to establish additional locations in Portland and Beaverton. It cited pandemic-related challenges and “inflated costs of goods and services” as the reason for permanently closing. (KGW)

Theater

Friday, May 10-Sunday, May 12 marks the world premiere of “At the Root,” a Portland Revels program featuring storytelling and song “to celebrate the bonds women build through the ritual of styling one another’s hair.” The production will be held at the Brunish Theater; tickets are available on a pay-what-you-can basis.

Arts

Ivan McClellan spent years photographing Black rodeo culture across the US — only to find “there are Black cowboys here in Portland, Oregon, where I live, which I think is the last place that I would have expected to find them.” McClellan shares his journey in “Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture” available tomorrow. (OPB)

Feel Good

The Oregon Zoo is now home to one of the world’s rarest bird species: the sihek kingfisher. Once native to Guam, these birds have been extinct in the wild for 30+ years and only 110 individuals exist today, all in human care. See the three sihek kingfishers in Vollum Aviary.

Outdoors

#VanLife isn’t just a fad in our neck of the woods. Portland-based app The Dyrt (aka “the Yelp for campgrounds”) surveyed thousands of users and campground owners and found Oregon campers are 70% more likely than the average American camper to identify camper vans as their primary form of camping. (Portland Monthly + The Dyrt)

Sports

Ron Holland, Matas Buzelis, Cody Williams, Zaccharie Risacher, Kel’el Ware, and Zach Edey are all potential draft targets for the Portland Trail Blazers. Get the biggest stories every day from the local Rip City experts on Locked On Blazers.

Civic

💸 More riverbank restoration

City of Portland will use $500K grant from Metro to restore riverbank near OMSI

An aerial view of a stretch of Willamette River shoreline owned by OMSI where the city of Portland will carry out restoration efforts and make space for a future park.

The Eastbank Crescent property is located between the Hawthorne and Marquam bridges. | Photo via city of Portland

The city of Portland is clearing the way for another riverside park. City Council recently approved a $500,00 grant from Metro to revitalize Eastbank Crescent, a stretch of Willamette River waterfront on OMSI’s property in Southeast Portland.

The mitigation bank project aims to restore the shoreline’s natural environment and lay the groundwork for the future Waterfront Education Park and Center for Tribal Nations — a collaborative effort between OMSI and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and the Northwest Native Chamber. OMSI said it supports the city’s plans for the site.

Metro’s grant money, along with $60,000 contributed by the city, will help fund project management, early modeling, analysis, engineering, permitting, research, and surveying.

The Buy

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The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Cambrie

From the editor

Last week, I visited the new installation at Hopscotch honoring Voodoo Doughnut and Matt Groening’s “The Simpsons.” The walk-through exhibit features dozens of realistic-looking donuts displayed on the walls — complete with some of Voodoo’s iconic toppings — and giant “yummy bears” that look good enough to eat.

Trust me when I say you’ll work up an appetite for sweets, which is perfect, because you can try Kate’s Ice Cream’s exclusive new flavor while you’re there.

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