Portland Then/Now: The Corner of Southwest 11th Avenue & Morrison Street
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Portland Traction Company Council Crest trolley at SW 11th and Morrison St., 1946:
City of Portland Archives. A2011-007.1447 MAX train at SW 11th and Morrison St., Feb., 2015. Photo by Byron Beck. 
THEN: This photograph shows the Council Crest Car 501 at SW 11th Avenue and Morrison Street in front of John Hamrick's Playhouse Theater.
The year was 1946 and the film playing, "Without Reservations," starred Claudette Colbert and John Wayne in a comedy directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Jack Benny and Cary Grant both made uncredited cameos in the film.
At the time, the Council Crest Trolleys transported locals and tourists alike from downtown on a 2-1/2-mile trip to the highest point in Portland’s West Hills, 1,150 feet above the Portland Waterfront.
NOW: The area has gone under a major transformation since the mid-1940's.
The Danmoore Hotel (not pictured, but just a block away) was demolished in 2005 and has been replaced by the First Presbyterian Church's garden and underground parking garage.
The Playhouse itself, one of a several Blue Mouse theatres throughout the Pacific Northwest, opened as the Globe Theater in 1912 before a completer remodel in 1921. The building was demolished in 1977.
The builiding that replaced the theater is currently home to a boxing facility, The United Way and Camp Fire Girls as well as GoLocalPDX.com.
The MAX Red Line still rides the rails on Morrison Street, but instead of Council Crest the cars are now headed toward Beaverton.
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