In this edition: St. Patrick’s Day display, street name history, Garden Home Gardeners, Firlock Lane, 1915 Valentine’s Day post card, 1913 train wreck post card, reopening of the Old Market Pub and Brewery, website statistics, new Discover Garden Home series.

News

St. Patrick’s Day in Garden Home! Enjoy this front yard display on SW 84^th!

St Patricks yard display on SW 84th Ave

Where did these street names come from? Here are a few names from the south side of Garden Home Road: (the north side next time)

• Godwin Court (off of Alden): Jack Godwin grew up on Westgard, now SW 87^th to become a builder in the area. Here is Jack as a boy on his pet burro, Babe.
• Skyhar Street (west off of SW Oleson): The Skyhar family owned much of the area around Garden Home Park.
• Holly Lane: Although the three early 1950s homes were built in a filbert orchard, Holly Lane was a short path in the newly platted Hollyhurst Addition, off of SW 87^th.
• Shirley Lane and SW 88^th Avenue (originally Dorothy Lane): Shirley Johnson was the daughter of the 1950’s Gust Johnson service station owner at the SW corner of the intersection. Her sister, the famous Dorothy Johnson is shown here, circa 1955, with the SW 88^th sign that was to bear her name. However, the U.S. Post Office decreed that certain street names be changed to numbers. Dorothy Johnson lives in Florida and we enjoy her notes and love for Garden Home.

Jack Godwin on Babe the burro in front of Godwin home on Westgard Ave (now SW 87th)

Dorothy waving at street sign (now SW 88th Ave)

Congratulations to the Garden Home Gardeners for the new sign indicating their care of our many SW Oleson median gardens. This garden graces the middle of Oleson at Skyhar. The garden at Oleson and 80^th has been cleaned up, ready for the spring and summer blooms covering the utility equipment.

Garden on SW Oleson Rd at SW Skyhar – Garden Home Gardeners, March 2021

Garden Home Gardeners – Oleson at Skyhar

Garden Home Gardeners – Adopt-A-Road sign

Firlock Lane: Although the street is now named SW 78^th Ave., it was the route to the Firlock Station, a stop for the Oregon Electric train which also had an elevated platform for Aaron Frank’s horses to board for their trips to horse shows in California or New York. You may also have an old can of Firlock Paint, which was developed by Carlo Poutala in the 1970s.

Poutala, Firlock Paints

A Small Town Rises: A recently published book tells the fascinating story of a local girl who volunteered to go to Mississippi to work in the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s.  Mary Sue Gellatly, sister to Bill Gellatly of Garden Home, grew up in Multnomah Village and eventually married a Black volunteer with whom she worked in Mississippi.  A Small Town Rises was written by Bill’s wife, Lee Anna Sherman, and is available from Garden Home Library or bookstores. The book title adds: A Sharecropper and a College Girl Join the Struggle for Justice in Shaw, Mississippi.

February 14 Valentines Day and Oregon Statehood:  Oregon officially became the 33rd state just 162 years ago in 1859! Here is a valentine postcard sent to Miss Vivian Tigard with the 1915 Garden Home postmark and simple address (courtesy Steve Bauer).

1915 Valentine’s Day postcard to Vivian Tigard – front

1915 Valentine’s Day postcard to Vivian Tigard – back

Steve Bauer sent us a second vintage postcard photo from Ebay, with a 1913 Garden Home postmark from Hillsdale depicting a train wreck. The writer tells Alfred:  “I was over there March 1^st. I went over with 2 horses from here. I rode them, it took me about 3 days. I stopped a day with Uncle & Auntie. I might be up sometime next month or July. Best regards to you all.  Andrew” The train photo is marked PRN for Pacific Railway and Navigation Company. Thanks to Steve Bauer for the postcards.

1913 train wreck postcard – front

1913 train wreck postcard – back

Old Market Pub is now open for limited indoor dining in addition to the great plastic encased seating outdoors. One of the best outdoor spaces around! When you are inside, take a moment to find Garden Home History’s big vintage postal safe and historic photos from Colin Lamb’s Thriftway store. Visit the Old Market Pub website. Read more about the history of the Old Market Pub.

2021 Old Market Pub and Brewery outdoor seating

GardenHomeHistory.com website statistics: During January 2021, we had 1,045 visitors with 2,621 page views. During the year 2020, we had 11,149 visitors and 32,999 page views.  The most popular articles generally are our stories on:

• Mark and Leona Whitney and the Whitney Cannery, 1950-1976
• Mollie Miles – The Years After 1945
• Garden Home Junction of the Oregon Electric Railway

Our popular story on Mollie Miles had 102 views just in January 2021. We suspect many of those visitors were actually looking for the Mollie Miles from the Ford vs. Ferrari motion picture. Our Mollie Miles lived over near the Portland Golf Club and has a most interesting story.

Mollie Miles from Garden Home

New Housing Developments: You have probably noticed the two large housing developments on SW Garden Home Road. Both the Piper Ridge development at SW 87^th Ave. and the Garden Home Estates between SW 81^st Ave. and SW 78^th Ave. will each have 9 new homes developed by Westwood Homes (plus the original homes on the respective lots). Both properties were previously large pastures with horses in the last century. Early Garden Home was platted with large lots for typical family needs such as a cow, chickens, fruit trees, pasture, and a garden.

Discover Garden Home

Have you noticed the 5 flags flying at the Nordia House, 8800 SW Oleson Road? What specific countries do they represent? Take a selfie at the flags, and send it to us at GardenHomeHistory@gmail.com, and look for them here next month.

With the change in Covid regulations, the restaurant at Nordia House, Broder Söder, hopes to be open again on Feb. 15^th, call to check, 503-977-0275.

Nordia House grand opening June 2015. Located on SW Oleson Rd near Fogelbo.

Help us find the funny, interesting, or historical places in Garden Home for drive-by or walk-by enjoyment to feature in Discover Garden Home. Take some photos and send them to us at GardenHomeHistory@gmail.com. Each month, we will publish a new Garden Home destination to discover!

Recent Events

Thanks to a generous donor, our special 10^th Anniversary Gazette was printed and postal mailed to our entire list of subscribers. Thanks for the many nice comments about receiving this printed Gazette which was postal mailed to almost 400 families for whom we have home addresses. We print and mail our three or four Gazettes each year to those families who have paid an annual $10 for this service. All Gazettes are on our website under Newsletters.

To receive The Garden Home History Gazette and our Updates by email, send us an email at gardenhomehistory@gmail.com, and ask to receive it. It’s free! Or, you can subscribe to the printed editions of the Gazette by US Mail for $10 per year.

GHHP Gazette – December 2020 (PDF)

Get Involved

Historic Garden Home street sign

Historic Garden Home street signs: We currently have about 35 of the Historic Garden Home street sign toppers in our community. Each sign was purchased by a friend or family member to honor their loved one. Click here to view photos of the signs and for information about sponsoring a sign.

Our generous donors permit us to print and mail this newsletter for our non-e-mail people and for the Garden Home Recreation Center. We also replace the Historic Garden Home street signs once for signs that disappear, current cost for each sign. We also have website costs, printing, paper, plaques and many other costs of an organization. Donor names are listed on our History Bulletin Board at the Recreation Center. Thank you to all of our donors and to all of our volunteers for their time and skills.