October 2015: Donna Arndt Oliver, daughter of Otto Arndt, has given us a large collection of Washington County aerial photos and negatives. The family lived in Garden Home on the site of the current location of the Garden Home Market Place (formerly Lamb’s Thriftway). We thank Donna Oliver for this gift and Bob Cram for digitizing these photos from the negatives. Read the complete story of the Otto Ardnt family.
From Otto’s “FILE OF AERIAL NEGATIVES”:
All of the 1949 and 1950s pictures were taken when Otto Arndt chartered airplanes at various times in those years from the Bernard Airport in Beaverton, Oregon. Flier Walt Rupert was in all cases the pilot who flew the airplanes. He was an instructor, and operated the Rupert Flying Service in the 1940s and 1950s.
Garden Home: March 4, 1954 and in 1957.
Twelve 2 1/4 square negs. No. 1 through 12, shot 3-4-54.
Nine 2 1/4 square negs. No numbers on them, shot in 1957.
All of these were shot with a Rolleiflex camera.
Bob Cram 11/27/15: In looking at the photos and contrary to Otto’s notes, some of the first 12 were shot in 1954 but others appear to be later (1957) as the Thriftway store is present in some but not others. The last 9 photos were arbitrarily numbered by myself for reference. These appear to all be from 1957. Files are in jpg format and were scanned from the negatives using 4800 DPI resolution on an Epson V600 Photo Scanner. Contrast and brightness were adjusted for best detail in center of photo.
At the end of the sequence below, there are six additional photos of Beaverton, Multnomah Village, and Washington Square Mall taken from 1949 to 1983.
1954 Garden Home School from W – Arndt Neg 01.
Central Garden Home, Oleson at an angle running left and right. School in foreground with the old original school building still attached in what is now the south parking lot. Garden Home Feed and Seed building has no roof structure. Community Church east of feed store at now 71st. Long 2-story store at the intersection, variously named Upchurch, Throckmortons or generally the White store, burned in 1956. Note the nut orchard NE of intersection where Thriftway is built in 1957.
1954 Site of the Thriftway lot from SW.
View from SW, 74th being the main road visible, beside the Feed store. Oleson to the left. Garden Home Road in front of 2-story, no-roof Feed and Seed store. Nut orchard across road, pre 1957 where Thriftway will develop. Upper right corner shows Whitney’s Cannery, today’s Old Market Pub.
1954 Garden Home Rd and Multnomah from W.
Looking east onto Garden Home Road just above the intersections of GH Rd and Oleson. The photographer Otto Arndt’s house on left side of GH Rd upper middle, house with barn behind it. Old Community Church across the street from his house. Following down ( west) on GH RD is the church, the parsonage, the Fraley house, the Johnson house (right beside the Feed Store), the no-roof Feed store, then several more buildings. The Krom house sits beside the nut orchard.
1954 Garden Home Rd and 71st from S
Garden Home Rd. is horizontal street, find church and Arndt home in middle. Forested area in Frank farm, Hunt Club development, Canby, Hickman Lane area.
1954 Oleson Rd from SW
Oleson Rd. runs from lower right up through middle. Connecting road at bottom is Alden, visible road at lower left corner is 87th. GH Park area is wetlands, not developed off of Alden. Note GH School at intersection with GH Rd. Hunt Club quarter-mile track is at top of photo.
1954 Garden Home Rd from SE
Oregon Electric RR right-of-way is curved line in upper middle. GH Rd is straight line right to left, with the School (find the chimney) adjacent to forest area. The curved line in lower half is the RR right-of-way of track going south to Tigard. Passenger service stopped in early 1930s, steam and freight continued to late 1930s. Rails came up in 1940-41. Note Cannery at Multnomah/GH RD intersection.
1954 Garden Home Rd from W
West end of Garden Home Rd. Holly Lane in lower rt. Corner, 3 houses being developed in a filbert orchard. Adjoining 87th (Westbrook). Rummer homes not yet built, large empty lot on lower left. Newly developed homes and streets north off Garden Home Rd at 81, 82, 83. Quarter-mile track on left. White Sandberg 1898 house lower middle just east of 87th.
1954 71st Ave and Garden Home Rd from NW
Looking south east at Garden Home Rd. Community Church and parsonage across Garden Home Rd from Otto Arndt’s home on Garden Home Rd. Street going south is Royal, now 71st. Church sanctuary moved to Unitarian lot on Oleson in 1961. Whitney’s Cannery on the left across from the Red Store. 1954 before Thriftway built.
1954 71st Ave and Garden Home Rd from W
Close-up of photographer Otto Arndt’s home and barn on Garden Home Rd. Church, cannery, electric plant. House at far left upper photo probably was Glen and Isolda Steele’s home (Isolda was cook at school).
1957 Garden Home School from E
Note that Thriftway is recently constructed and the Upchurch store has burned down by the time of this photo. Intersection of vertical GH Rd and Oleson Rd. The GH School (original school still attached) middle right. Thriftway, mini-mall and Texaco station just built, 1957, lower middle. Upchurch (White) store has burned in 1956 on SE corner. Service station on SW corner. Community Church lower left middle. Roof now partially covering Feed store.
1957 Thriftway from W
Distance view straight up Garden Home Rd. 1957, new Thriftway store. School lower middle. 76th is the first street going north from GH Rd, W of School. Second home on street is our first Century Home, owned by Sasha Kaplan and Matt Miner. Note the 2-story Stott-Fishback home in the forest off of 77th.
1957 Thriftway from S
The curved line is the now defunct railroad line south to Tigard, coming from Multnomah intersection with Garden Home Rd. White vertical street at right is 71st. Oleson is angled street upper left, school and Thriftway built.
1957 Garden Home Rd and Multnomah Blvd from SE
Lamb’s Thriftway complex at middle of 1957 photo. Multnomah Blvd. joining Garden Home Rd lower right. Portland Golf Club fairways upper right.
1957 Garden Home Rd and Multnomah Blvd from E
Garden Home Rd. up the center of photo with Multnomah intersection. Mormon Church not built. Hunt Club’s quarter-mile horse track on the right. Railroad right-of-way, now called the Bridle Path after the rails taken up, snakes west to Beaverton.
1957 Older section of Vista Brook from N
1957 Garden Home Rd and Oleson Rd from NE
Looking up Oleson Rd. from the north. Intersection with Garden Home Rd.at middle photo. Meridian Park development off of Oleson in the foreground, 1940s.
1957 Alden St and Oleson Rd from S
Oleson Rd. going up to middle top of photo, school visible. Alden going west from Oleson at mid-photo. SW Washington Drive “elbow” at mid-lower photo.
1957 Vista Brook and Garden Home Rd from W
Looking up Garden Home Rd. from the west. Vista Brook on the left. Stranberg home in the trees at mid-photo. Rose Garden development lower foreground (Rambler, Brier) Rummers not developed. Holly Lane in middle of filbert orchard on right.
1957 Portland Golf Club from NW
Portland Golf Club fairways in foreground. Hunt Club’s quarter-mile track at mid-photo. Bridle path/Fanno Creek trail at right. School is upper mid-photo to the right.
1957 Gabriel Park from W
Gabriel Park from the west. Mt Hood in background.
1957 Older section of Vista Brook from NW
The sharp turn is SW Garden Home Rd turning into SW 92nd Ave.
1949 Beaverton, from the W
Beaverton High School and Merle Davies Elementary School are visible in the bottom left of the photo. Mt. Hood in background.
1949 Beaverton – from the SE
The bright white tall buildings top center of frame are likely Beaverton High School. The white long diagonal road is likely SW Allen Blvd.
1950 Beaverton – from the W
The track for Beaverton High School is clearly visible to the right of the three-story school building. Merle Davies Elementary School is visible between BHS and SW Farmington Rd.
1983 Washington Square – from the SW
Highway 217 and SW Scholls Ferry Rd in foreground, Crescent Grove Cemetery in the wooded lot adjacent to mall parking lot. Red Tail Golf Course (formerly Progress Downs) is visible in the top half of photo. Sears is the mall’s lower right corner in photo.
1954 Multnomah Village – from the E
Overpass is SW Capitol Highway going over SW Multnomah Blvd. The future location of Gabriel Park is in upper right hand corner of photo.
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Nice treasure!
Ginny Mapes
I think that Rupert’s Flying Service should be listed as being in business until as late as about 1969, when the airport property was sold to make room for Bernard’s Beaverton Mall. I took my first plane ride from there with “Tex” Abbott, a WW2 ace who managed the Oregonian’s Branch 27, located at the curve in SW 35th, south of Multnomah Blvd. that would have been 1950 or 1951, however the airport had been there well ahead of that. Wally was well know and respected. I flew in and out of there many times in the mid-60’s, but always in the right seat; something like 60 hours as a passenger with several flyer friends.
Bill Gellatly
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