Recently we’ve written about the adaptive reuse of a former neighborhood grocery store located at the northeast corner of NE 30th and Emerson. Its rebirth as a health clinic and neighborhood coffee shop is as inspiring as another story is disappointing: the impending loss of the Logan Grocery at NE 33rd and Alberta.
Today’s post provides a 40-year look back at NE 30th and Emerson and is the fruit of time spent at one of our favorite places, Portland City Archives, where we’ve been recently working on several research projects (the Vernon water tank is in the pipeline, so to speak, and we’ve found some great photos of that giant coming soon).
While searching for views of some former local grocery stores we’re tracking, we came across this gem from 1980. Click in for a good look.
Looking northeast at the corner of NE 30th and Emerson, 1980. Courtesy of Portland City Archives, image A2011-028 APF/15624. A quick look back through newspapers and directories from the 1980s confirms that Premier Real Estate Services, owned by Wayne Jacox, operated from this storefront.
Here’s a similar view today:
NE 30th and Emerson, January 2019.
No telling when the thin clapboard siding went on (or the T-111 siding came off) and the transom windows were removed. Upstairs windows haven’t changed, nor has the utility pole out front with the stop sign on it. The corner entry is gone, as is the 30th Street entry to the upstairs apartment. Gas meters are still in the same place as 1980. And from the 1980 picture, you can see the two distinct storefronts from the way-back past that align with what the 1924 Sanborn map shows at 1122 and 1124 East 30th Street North.
Definitely worth 1,000 words. Thanks City Archives!
Alameda Old House History 
I grew up on 30th and Emerson from 1962, to 1969. I remember the store being owned by a family. It was called “Joe’s Store , your typical mom and pop store. Up the street was the Big C Store, the neighborhood grocery store.
I would love to read more about the early history of the area during the 60s.
This building was something that as a child, we would peak into the cracks of the window and try to imagine what was going on inside (in the early 80s). The crosswalk at this corner had a elder in our community who volunteered every day to help us cross the street on our way to school at Meek. As kids, we would all share a package of raw top ramen on our way home near this building. Just imagine if it had been a store still:) Maybe we would have had more snacks. Thanks for sharing Doug!
If those walls could talk…..
……Seems like the utility pole is trying to say a few things – much graffiti that wasn’t there 40 years ago. (A can of brown spray paint and about 2 minutes would correct that.)
New ADA curb ramps too.
I liked the corner entry look and certainly the big transom windows…..but, alas, no one thought to consult with me on those changes. Oh well.