Blog
Oral History Project Starting
The Eliot Neighborhood Association and Boise-Eliot School are about to begin the Eliot Oral History Project! This project will bring Boise-Eliot middle school students together with Eliot residents to listen and record their stories and piece together an oral history and walking tours of the neighborhood.
Ride Connection Volunteers
Ride Connection is recruiting volunteer drivers to serve the Eliot Neighborhood and beyond. The volunteer driver’s role is to provide necessary transportation services to older adults and people with disabilities in the tri-county area who are unable to drive and access public transportation for various needs, often for life-sustaining purposes.
Making Eliot Greener
178 trees planted…
Hundreds of volunteers…
4 NE Portland neighborhoods…
Numerous new acquaintances and friendships made.
It’s the annual Friends of Trees (FoT) Planting in NE Portland! The event commenced Saturday morning February 13th. The day began rather dreary but as my husband rallied the crowd to a chant of “It never rains on planting day!” the drizzle stopped for a few hours while about a hundred people came together to help plant trees.
Board Meeting Minutes 2010-02-08
Volunteer to Help Plant Trees
The Eliot Neighborhood Friends of Trees planting will be on Saturday February 13th. Volunteers are needed to help make this planting a success. It’s a great way to get to know your neighbors and help improve the neighborhood.
Inspiration at Afrique Bistro
On a Friday night not too long ago my wife and I were once again looking for a place to go for dinner. It has kind of become a weekly tradition to visit one our fabulous neighborhood spots each and every Friday. After short a discussion with friends we decided to show them Afrique Bistro.
Board Meeting Minutes 2010-01-11
Memorial Coliseum Concept Presentation
The Memorial Coliseum concept proposals have been submitted and the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee is preparing to evaluate the ideas. On Tuesday January 26th the SAC along with the public will be able to see those concepts presented by the submitters.
The Story of the Neighborhood Owl
The owl turned up on Tillamook Street right before Thanksgiving.
My wife, Shara, noticed some crows having a fit about something in an old birch tree in our yard on a Monday morning. To her surprise, there appeared to be a Great Horned Owl sitting on a branch 30 feet up. She told my cousin, Liz, an avid birder who lives behind us on Thompson Street. We pulled out the binoculars. We gawked. We pointed it out to passersby, including a troupe of children from a nearby pre-school. It wasn’t just the crows who were upset. A pair of hummingbirds that live in our yard buzzed the owl repeatedly. But the owl — he? she? — barely flinched. At one point, it moved its neck suddenly and — I swear — a crow that was squawking at it jumped. We saw the owl’s talons through the binoculars. They looked sharp and powerful. We figured a predator like that isn’t easily perturbed. I called the Portland Audubon Society. They were impressed. They said Great Horned Owls are rarely seen in the city. Shara and I continued to tell everyone we could find. The owl was still in the birch tree at dusk when our daughters got home from school, so they got a chance to see it. Liz had the great fortune of seeing the great bird fly off before the sun completely set.
New Graham Street Lofts Neighbors
Have you noticed the relatively new pumpkin orange building on the corner of MLK Jr. and Graham St? It’s the one I use to describe to my friends how to get to my house. You can’t miss it! It’s called Graham Street Lofts. It was built to create superior housing using revolutionary European construction designed to be comfortable and energy efficient. The ground floor of the 4-story building contains mixed-use units which have recently been filled.
A Review of Jumptown
When most people think of jazz, Portland, Oregon, is not the first place that comes to mind. And yet, for a golden decade following World War II, the Eliot neighborhood, a thriving African American neighborhood that would soon be bulldozed for urban renewal, spawned a jazz heyday. Such luminaries as: Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dizzie Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, and local talent; Wardell Gray and Doc Severinsen headlined Portland clubs. The fact that Portland was a port city with a busy railroad, and had a bustling shipbuilding industry, made it ripe to become a jazz Mecca. Jumptown, by Robert Dietsche is a fascinating blend of music, politics, and social history.
The White Eagle Saloon
A Building Full of Colorful History & Stories
Our neighborhood is so fortunate to have buildings that have survived for nearly a century or more. Every building has seen much use from many people over the years and has many stories to tell as well. The White Eagle Saloon & Café at 836 N Russell Street is a great example of a simple building known for its colorful past. The White Eagle, as it is now known as, has not only serviced many different people from different walks of life, but also is full of stories of events passed through several generations. In 95 years of existence, the building has served the same function as a saloon, tavern, or pub. Perhaps the walls are trying to talk as mysteries still shroud this building and reports of haunting by ghosts continue.
The Future of Eliot
The next couple of years will see new plans and projects proposed that will affect the future of Eliot. There are outside interests driving these that do not necessarily have Eliot’s interests at heart. It is important for us, as residents, to make our interests known. Both the Eliot Land Use Committee and the Board are here to do that and, in some cases, we are already preparing, but we need to be sure we are accurately representing the neighborhood, so participating in neighborhood meetings is critical.
Solarize Northeast Kicks Off
Would you like to save money, save energy, and help save the planet? An exciting new initiative can help you and your Northeast Portland neighbors do all that and make your home more comfortable at the same time.
Eliot Neighborhood 