Local history

The Tater Tot. It’s hard to resist these crunchy golden-brown potato morsels piled high in a basket, or nestled on a plate accompanying our favorite burger or sandwich. For many of us, “Tater Tot” and “comfort food” go hand-in-hand. It’s ingrained in our culture—at least from a food perspective!

If there is any single person we can attribute the concept of Forest Park to, it is most certainly the landscape architect, John C. Olmstead. In 1903, Olmstead envisioned the forested hills of West Portland as an urban park—a natural recreational resource for local residents. Planned in conjunction with the upcoming Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1905, Olmstead recommended that the “romantic wooded hillsides” be preserved as parkland. To the naysayers he argued, “It is true th

Play ball! During the 1970s, umpires called out the famous phrase to launch Portland Mavericks baseball games at Civic Stadium (Providence Park) in one of the most colorful chapters in the history of Portland baseball.

The Oreo cookie. Two chocolate wafers with a creamy vanilla filling sandwiched between them. A perennial favorite for decades, Oreos are loved by millions around the world, with one major debate baked into its delicious existence, which revolves around the best way to eat them: dunk or twist. There are two opposing camps: Twisters and Dunkers. The former maintain that the best way to eat an Oreo is to twist them apart and enjoy each side separately; some eat the creamy center

If you’re like many Oregonians, summertime and Marionberries go hand-in-hand. From early July through August, Marionberries are harvested and begin appearing in the produce section of grocery stores, pies and a plethora of other food and drink items. But, did you know that this scrumptious berry did not even exist until the 1940s? Had you walked into a Portland diner in the 1920s and asked for a slice of Marionberry pie, you would have been met with puzzled looks.

If asked what the official gemstone of their state is, there’s a good chance that many residents of Oregon and Washington might respond with a blank stare. While the official state mammals are more commonly known—the Beaver for Oregon and the Olympic Marmot for Washington—the official state gemstone is a bit more obscure. Despite the obscurity of this knowledge, each of the state’s gemstones has a tale to tell in the natural history of their respective state.

If you’ve ever spent an afternoon strolling the seemingly endless aisles of books at Powell’s flagship store on Burnside, it’s likely that the immensity of the store and its massive inventory has left you a bit awestricken.

In recent years nostalgia has settled into the gaming industry. Despite the continuing demand for the newest, most realistic, imaginative video games for both consoles and streaming platforms, many enthusiasts are increasingly looking to the past for a familiar, relaxing and affordable gaming experience.

When we hear the word “chocolate,” most of us picture a bar, ice cream, baked goods, or a confection of some type. Typically eating chocolate, not drinking it, and a sweet taste is usually associated with chocolate rather than a savory one. However, for approximately 90% of chocolate’s extensive history, it was primarily a beverage, and sugar didn’t figure into the equation at all.

Although actor Bill Bixby certainly played many different types of characters throughout his nearly 32-year television acting career, the essential Bill Bixby television persona is that of an everyman who makes the fantastical seem plausible.

The mansion on the hill: this is how many local residents think of the stately French Renaissance-style mansion with the red-tiled roof perched high above the city in the West Hills. One of Portland’s beloved landmarks, the Pittock Mansion has been treasured for generations, and is symbolic of the ambition, glamor and spirit of those intrepid entrepreneurs who shaped the city of Portland at the turn of the 20th century. But just who were the Pittocks, and how did they amass t

As rain falls from the skies of the Pacific Northwest, so too does coffee pour into the cups of local residents adding pep to their step and steamy, warm, comfort to lift the spirits. But where did coffee come from in the first place, and just how did it become one of the most popular beverages around the world?

For many of us growing up in Portland, our first experience atop a carousel horse, or careening madly about on a roller coaster, happened at Oaks Amusement Park on the banks of the Willamette River. A fixture in the City of Roses for over a century, this venerable landmark located in the southeast neighborhood of Sellwood, is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in America. Built from 1904-1905 by the Oregon Water Power and Railway Company, Oaks Park was construct