History of The Goose Hollow Inn - and Dancing

"Dedicated to Quality Draft, Fine Food, Pleasant Music, and Stimulating Company. We're also dedicated to extremes of opinion, hoping that a livable marriage will result. If physical violence is your nature, either develop your verbal abilities or leave."

This is the motto the former mayor of Portland Bud Clark adopted when he took over the Anne's Place (formerly known as the Canyon Lunch) in 1967 and renamed it The Goose Hollow Inn.

Clark's first bar, The Spatenhaus, was acquired by the city for development of the Keller Fountain in 1965. The booths within The Goose came from that bar.

Within walking distance of major media outlets and government offices, Clark calls his pub 'Portland's living room'. A place of conversation and debate, where the television is only turned on for the Super Bowl and the World Series.

Notably The Goose was the first bar to allow dancing. A local legislator, who liked to dance after a few beers, had the old law changed when he was told it was against city ordinances.

Uptown Billiards - The Bar Where John Wayne Drank

Pool halls still exist within Portland. But on the south end of NW 23rd there exists a small door with steps that lead to a somewhat hidden establishment unlike any other in the city. Perhaps not the most infamous pool hall to ever grace Portland, but absolutely one of the best modern pool halls in the town today.

The bar itself was built in Belgium, and sent around the Cape of South America to San Francisco before the turn of the 20th century.

In 1908 it was put on a stage coach and moved to Paisley, Oregon. Then in 1936 it was put on a flatbed truck and moved from Paisley to Redmond, Oregon. After a well-used existence, in 1994 (and much to the objection from the residents of Redmond) the bar's current owner loaded it onto a U-Haul and brought it to Portland.

In times past, it was customary for bartenders to throw their small change up on the bar at the end of the night. When the bar was detached from the wall in Redmond, people heard lots of clanking from within. They filled two containers with coins dating as far back as the 1910's, including steel pennies, mercury dimes and even a couple liberty half-dollars.

A resident of Redmond told the owner, before she hauled away the bar, that John Wayne once sat at this very bar. Apparently The Duke was filming a movie in central Oregon (most likely this would have been the famous 'Rooster Cogburn', in which Katherin Hepburn co-starred), and this bar was where he spent most of his off-hours passing the time.

The First (Topless) Strip Club of Portland

Mary's Club is practically a landmark in Portland since its inception back in 1954, and its addition of topless dancers in 1965. Now Mary's wasn't going to qualify for my book, and this blog isn't about Portland's many "academies of dance" - of which there are many. Still, I liked the grittiness of this shot, and if you haven't been inside, well, some things just have to be experienced.

Which brings up the question: Does Portland have any successful blogs out there devoted to these unique establishments? I know there must be, but I haven't seen one (or rather I have not spent time actively looking)... some one please make a liar out of me. Seems like an easy way to make some coin in this town.

Start of the new Book Project: The Streets of Portland

Today marks the unofficial start to my new project, The Streets of Portland. Actually it isn't just me, I have help from a few fellow photogs who are collaborating with me on it. The book will be a historical view of the named streets in downtown Portland, along with accompanying photographs taken from myself, Byron, Rick, and Miles. The next few weeks will be light in terms of work (research and writing - minor snaps of pics here and there), but I am hoping come mid-July to be able to kick the process up a notch or three in time for publishing in the fall.