Portland's Hawthorne Boulevard - Book Talk

FREE for AHC members.

Excerpt from the book cover:

From a farm path in 1850 to a tourist destination in the 21st century, Hawthorne Boulevard on the east side of Portland has become a bustling city thoroughfare and a persistently eclectic neighborhood. The street that runs from the Willamette River to Mount Tabor has been called a hippie haven and a shopper’s paradise. It takes its name from Dr. J.C. Hawthorne, who opened Oregon’s first asylum there in 1861. Streetcars brought population growth, grocery stores, and saloons. In the 1950s, the Hawthorne Boosters kept the bustle in the boulevard, but the 1970s brought vacant storefronts. Cheap rent created opportunities for hip entrepreneurs, and organized revitalization in the 1980s was sensitive to the communities’ unique character. Today, Hawthorne Boulevard draws visitors from across the city and around the world.

Author Rhys Scholes has worked on or lived near Hawthorne Boulevard for decades. He joins us to discuss his new book: Portland's Hawthorne Boulevard (Arcadia, 2020) and to to share stories the Hawthorne community. 

Photo: SE Hawthorne Blvd. at 36th, looking east. Oregon Historical Society, Gilliam Portrait Studio and Camera Shop Collection, Organized Lot 1275.