February 7, 2001
®lje ^JorHanh (Observer
from the Union Station. African
A merican businesses started to
“pop up,” including clothing and
furniture stores, catering business,
hotels and restaurants. The Golden
West hotel, built in 1906, becam e a
popular gathering place for local
African Americans and those who
were away from home, while work­
ing on th e ra ilro a d .
N earby was a grow ing
“vice” district, called so
because o f its riverfront
saloons, brothels and
gambling houses. In the
c e n te r o f it w as the
low er Burnside w ith its
cheap hotels and room ­
ing houses. A lthough
m any perm anent resi­
dents lived in the area,
m any transients w ork­
ing as farm hands, lum ­
ber w orkers, and sea­
men drifted through. In
the w inter months, Port­
land had one o f the larg­
est Skid Road districts
in the country, due to
lack o f work.
Albina District
A frican Am ericans often lived
w here they w orked. A s they
struggled to earn equal w ages,
often losing the battle, they could
not afford to live out in. the sub­
urbs and drive into work. There-
fore, their already low population
w ere broken up further by their
living in small groups w herever
they could find work. T he ex pan­
sio n o f b rid g es and stre e tc a rs
to the E ast side allow ed an u n ­
f o r e s e e n o p p o r tu n ity .
A l­
though m any A frican A m ericans
w orked in the inner city , now
they could buy a hom e outside
the dow ntow n core and ride the
s tre e tc a r to w ork. T hey no
lo n g er had to live close enough
to w alk to w ork. T he A lbina
D istrict offered a chance for not
only m any black citizen s to live
but also an opportunity to open
black-ow ned busin esses. As
the N o rth e a st n e ig h b o rh o o d s
grew , so did the need for gro­
cery sto res, clothing stores and
WAS THE ORIGINAL
East Side
.
As the “dow ntow n
core” began to swell, the
city ’s residents look for
expan sio n across the
river. From 1887-1894,
several b rid g es w ere
built, allow ing streetcar
expansion to the East
Side as well. With crime
a n d p o v e r ty r is in g
d o w n to w n ,
w h ite
m iddle class residents
clam ored for a better
place. The bridges and
streetcars to the East
Side allowed for this ex­
pansion. But the whites
w ere not the only ones
who would benefit from
the expansion. W hile
the Southeast side ex­
panded tow ards M ount
T abor, the N o rth east
g re w
to w a rd s
Vancouver. The Albina
D istrict becam e the d i­
rection for m any A fri­
can A m ericans. Judge
M athew D eady o n ce
said the A frican A m eri­
can c o m m u n ity w as
“m oderately thrifty and
w ell conducted.” His
statem ent appeared to
be true and he w ent on
to say they “ fit in qui­
etly” . The A lbina D is­
trict continued to p ros­
per and grow as black
ow ned businesses con­
tinued to appear.
Jan Matzeliger
Who Knew?
His invention made it possible
to sew up to 500 shoes a day.
And right now, you can know
many other interesting black
history facts as we celebrate
the unique contributions African
Americans have made to history.
To learn more, simply visit
www.mcdonalds.com or listen
to the Tom Joyner Morning Show.
It’s not just black history, it’s
American History.
“ And
www.mcdonalds.com
©2001 McDonald's Corporation
if
you
don’t
know ,
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