From time to time the newsletter has published articles with snippets of information about the history of our neighborhood and/or tidbits relating to people, places, and businesses in the current community. The most recent example is the front-page article in the previous issue entitled “BWNA Condemns Racism, Extols Diversity, Fosters Inclusion” in which BWNA President Tim Gillespie contributed historical information about the now-defunct race-restrictive clauses in property deeds. Additionally, former BWNA President and current board member John Sandie submitted a series of “B-W Behind the Scenes” articles that include historical information about Wilshire Park as well as factoids about homes and businesses.
There have also been “Letter to the Editor” editorials submitted by longtime Beaumont-Wilshire residents about growing up in the neighborhood. But never has there been a regular issue-to-issue feature along this theme—until now, hopefully.
The idea originated a few years back when Immediate Past BWNA President Tim Hemstreet proposed something similar, but unfortunately it never caught on. Fast forward to BWNA’s most recent board meeting in September (via Zoom), when member Laurie Holtz rekindled the flame, suggesting a “Fun Facts” newsletter series featuring resident-submitted factoids about the B-W neighborhood and the surrounding community. The board enthusiastically approved the proposal, and Tim Gillespie and Laurie Holtz volunteered to get the ball rolling with the following submissions:
Laurie
Two laps around Wilshire Park’s outer path is just over a mile. Pip’s Donuts uses honey from our very own neighborhood bees—Bridgetown Bees. There are six sets of hidden staircases on the Alameda Ridge spanning from 26th Avenue to 50th Avenue. The Barnes Mansion at 3533 NE Klickitat Street was highlighted in Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby books as the haunted house.
Tim
Sandy Boulevard cuts diagonally across our main street grid because it follows the route of “the sandy road,” which was an ancient walking trail used by the first people in this area, then later by pioneers, making it one of the oldest travel routes in the whole of the Northwest. The Beaumont neighborhood was platted in 1910, the Wilshire neighborhood (south of Fremont Street) in 1921, and Beaumont is a French word meaning “beautiful mountain,” chosen not for its descriptive accuracy (no beautiful mountain here) but as a ploy by developers to attract folks to the area. Sidewalk-embedded horse rings were utilized well into the 1930s by horse-drawn delivery wagons packed with milk, ice, wood, and other goods.
As you may have surmised, Tim is a local history aficionado, and the items listed above are just the tip of the iceberg. Explains Tim: “I’ve been fascinated by our neighborhood’s history since my young family moved into our house in 1979, so this wonderful idea (of Laurie’s) is definitely up my alley.”
There will be more from Tim and Laurie in future issues, but do join in! Send me factoids (editor@bwnapdx.org).