Portland, Oregon Panoramic Photograph, From 1900 (79 x 16 inches)

Item Details

Portland, Oregon Panoramic Photograph, From 1900 (79 x 16 inches), no publisher, no photographer, date written in manuscript.

Photograph measures 79 x 16 with margins. Has been stored rolled and will ship as such. Fair condition. See scans for details. Photo is composed of two sheets taped together at the middle. Cellophane tape used on seam to front; white binders tape used on verso at seam. Several other masking tape-like repairs visible but not within the photo. Archival repair to upper left corner on 11-inch tear. Damage to middle of photo with what might have been a brown sticky substance which likely could be removed by a restoration expert. It appears someone might have tried to work on this area previously. Some creasing from rolling of photo. 

Damage notwithstanding, this is a spectacular and possibly unrecorded panoramic photograph of Portland Oregon circa 1900. Printed legend reads "Panorama of Portland, Oregon" below which "1900" is written in pen. An additional manuscript note is found on the verso "Picture of Portland 1900" in pencil.

The Willamette River bisects the photo with Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens visible along the horizon. Downtown buildings are richly detailed with numerous church steeples visible. Building signage includes two large Gen'l Arthur Cigar signs, Portland Street Cleaning and Sprinkling, Cumming Livery and Feed Stable, Golden Gate Baking Powder, Portland Lumbering and Mfg. Co., Russell & Co., Buffalo Pitts Co. and a large Owl Cigar sign.  

The foreground shows many very large residential buildings while industrial buildings occupy the shoreline. The six-story Portland Chamber of Commerce Building is visible, along with the Oregonian Tower, First Congregational Church and Pioneer Courthouse. 

The Hawthorne Bridge (Madison Street Bridge) is the most prominent of three bridges across the Willamette River plus we see the 1887 Morrison Bridge and a third unidentified bridge. 

This large photo is reminiscent of the famous 1903 Lars Henrichsen photo of Portland. Our photo is not as long but is shot from a higher vantage point affording more of a bird's eye view of the city. Surely there are other copies of this photo, but we were unsuccessful in our search. Worthy of conservation.

Note:  We are unable to photograph the entirety of the photo in one view.