NE Portland - Alameda Ridge and Grant Park

Portland has a lot of great neighborhoods to ramble through, and this walk will go through a couple of them. It starts and finishes at the Alameda Brewhouse and goes through the Alameda Ridge, Dolph Park, and Grant Park neighborhoods. Among other highlights this walk goes through neighborhoods featured by Beverly Cleary in her beloved children's books. The walk is 3.7 miles, and includes one significant down-hill and then one signficant up-hill.

The walk begins at the flagship of the Alameda Brewing Company, one of Portland's older micro-breweries (established in 1996). Despite some changes recently, this brewery should remain a Portland area mainstay.

Proceed west on Fremont Street, the "main street" for the Beaumont Village neighborhood, and a street that is seeing some significant changes. Soon on your left, between 46th and 47th Avenues, you will see these attractive newer townhomes, built in 2002. They represent "infill" development in the Beaumont Village neighborhood of medium-density for-sale homes that made economic sense at the time.

In between the townhomes is a home that originally dominated this block, a beautiful craftsman-style home built in 1914.

Continuing on Fremont, at the corner of 45th and Fremont, on the left, is this interesting artwork adjacent to the parking lot of Grand Central Bakery, another Northwest institution which began in Seattle, but has more stores in Portland now. The bakery is best known for its "rustic" breads. Also of interest is the giant metal ball perched at the corner of Fremont and 45th.

On the opposite side of Fremont is a sign of more recent real estate developments in desirable Portland neighborhoods such as this one. The Beaumont Village apartments were proposed in 2012 and resulted in a major neighborhood controversy. The original plan was modified to put retail development on the ground floor, but no off-street parking was included. The lack of off-street parking, with its pros and cons, was and is a major controversy in Portland.

Continuing along Fremont, on the right is Beaumont Middle School, which was originally constructed in 1926. One of the businesses advertised in the foreground sign is the well-known Portland gourmet pizza chain, Pizzicato.

Continue on Fremont Street for several more blocks to Alameda Street, then turn left. After one block turn right onto Klickitat Street. Klickitat Street is named after a river and county in Washington, but it is also known as the street where Henry Huggins lived. Where Klickitat Street curves to connect to 37th Avenue turn right to continue on Klickitat. At the corner of 36th and Klickitat is this neighborhood corner library, a "honor" book lending system. There are several of these informal libraries around Portland's older neighborhoods.

On the next block, to the right, is the Frank C. Barnes house, an imposing home that was built in 1913 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. More information about the Barnes "mansion" can be found here. The home is the inspiration for a "haunted" house in Bevery Cleary's novels.

At 35th Avenue turn right and then quickly turn left again onto Beakey Street. On the right is the Zimmerman-Rudeen house. This house, built in 1913, is a great example of the Prairie style of architecture originating with Frank Lloyd Wright and other turn-of-the-century Midwest architects.

Continue on Beakey Street. Beyond the Zimmerman-Rudeen house you will see these two homes on the right. They are both new construction, in 2013, and both are on lots half the size of those in the rest of the neighborhood. Undoubtedly this site contained one home until recently, when it was torn down and replaced with two. This is becoming a common occurrence in older, desirable Portland neighborhoods.

Beakey Street ends at 33rd Place, so turn right onto 33rd. At the corner is this unique Norman revival home with a turret. While not as common as Dutch colonial and other styles popular at the time, this style does pop up occasionally in early 20th century middle-class and high-end neighborhoods.

After one block on 33rd Place turn left onto Fremont Street, and after two blocks turn left again onto 32nd Avenue. Head down the hill on 32nd for seven long blocks. The route leaves the Alameda Ridge, a result of the cataclysmic Missoula Floods at the end of the last ice age, and heads down into the Grant Park neighborhood. The houses, are somewhat more modest in this neighborhood. The house pictured is typical of a style popular along this street, with a steep pitched roof resulting in 2nd story rooms with some interesting ceiling angles.

Turn left onto U.S. Grant Place. The homes are now bigger again. The street signs identify this neighborhood as Dolph Park, but there doesn't seem to be any official neighborhood designation from the City of Portland, and the boundaries of Dolph Park vs. Irvington to the west and Grant Park to the east are unclear. The actual Dolph Park subdivision plat, created in the early 20th century, is centered slightly to the west of this intersection, at 31st Avenue and Brazee Street.

Continue on U.S. Grant Place for one long block. This is a street of large homes, the most prominent of which is the Haseltine House, on the National Register of Historic Places. This Georgian Revival mansion was constructed in 1935.

Carefully cross busy 33rd Avenue and continue to the left, along the right side of 33rd. To your right is Grant Park, a 20 acre site that also serves as the "backyard" of Grant High School, which is located in the large buildings farther to the right. The park has been here since 1922.

After the athletic field, take the short stairway to the right into Grant Park. You will soon come across these three statues, a boy, a girl, and a dog, and between them a fountain. The boy is Henry Huggins, the girl is Ramona Quimby, and the dog is Ribsy. All three are characters in Beverly Cleary's novels, and this park and neighborhood are in the middle of their stories. Recently Beverly Cleary celebrated her 100th birthday.

Continue through Grant Park along the pedestrian path. Eventually you will see a path diverging to the left toward an elementary school - go that direction. The elementary school is named for Beverly Cleary, one of two in the neighborhood.

Walk straight ahead on 35th Place from the school for two blocks to Stanton Street, then turn right. Continue on Stanton Street for 8 blocks to 43rd Street. This quiet residential street is home to many mature deciduous trees - a typical and welcome attribute in this neighborhood.

Stanton Street ends at 43rd Avenue - cross the street and head up the public stairs leading back up onto Alameda Ridge. There are 115 treads on this stairway. If you are interested in a real up and down stair experience on Alameda Ridge, Metro's Walk There series has a good route.

Once at the top of the stairs you are back on Alameda Ridge, On your left is the Tannler-Armstrong House, an English Cottage-style home built in 1924 and on the National Register of Historic Places. This large house was originally built for a childless couple, and thus has only two (presumably very large) bedrooms.

At the top of the stairs, turn right on Alameda Street. The first house on the right, separated from the Tannler-Armstrong House, is the Crum House, built in 1926 and also on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is a mixture of historic styles, including French Renaissance and Gothic Revival. It was designed by Portland architect Leigh Dougan, who got his start as an office boy in the Chicago office of Frank Lloyd Wright. The original owners, Virgil and Beulah Crum, were, like their neighbors in the Tannler-Armstrong House also childless. After passing the Crum House continue on Alameda Street for several more blocks with its stately homes.

Turn left onto 48th Avenue and head north. The homes along these streets are more modest than those along Alameda. Amidst the bungalows and various colonial-type historical revival homes sits this Spanish-style home on the left. There are a few homes of this style scattered in Portland's 1920's neighborhoods.

Later on 48th Street you will come upon this home, constructed within the past couple of years. The new homes plopped in Portland's historic neighborhoods tend to be either craftsman-style bungalows or starkly modern homes such as this one. You be the judge as to whether this new home complements or distracts from the neighborhood. Continue on 48th Avenue to Fremont Street and the Alameda Brewing Company, where you can enjoy a beer to celebrate finishing this walk.