Editor’s Note: B-W resident Barbara Linssen submitted this article in response to our request for “fun facts” about the neighborhood in the Nov./Dec., 2020, issue. Please follow suit. Send me your B-W fun facts (editor@bwnapdx.org). Thanks.
Did you know a farm existed near Wilshire Park for several decades as the land all around was filled in with houses? The farm was approximately an acre and a half and lasted until about 1949. The following link takes you to a 1943 aerial photo that shows the whole plot along the south side of Shaver Street still intact: https://alamedahistory.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/wilshire-park-1943-aerial.jpg.
Zoom in and you can see that 34th and 35th avenues butt into the farm plot. But also notice the footpaths worn through to Shaver and the park. The farm plot included the large yellow house at 3922 NE 33rd, built in 1914, and continued eastward to the mid-block between 35th Place and 35th Avenue.
The whole neighborhood was built up by the 1920s and 30s, including almost all the houses we see today, except for this section, which filled in much later. A number of the houses currently in this plot date from the 1950s and later. A half-dozen ranch houses filled in the last vacant lots in 1975. My house, a modern infill, replaced one of these 1975 ranch houses. My neighbor south of me has a storm drain in her driveway, and I now understand why it exists, because for decades that was the end of the street.
Sanborn fire insurance maps are a fascinating resource if you’d like to explore more. They are on the library website and are hand-drawn, showing the exact location and size of every building, shed, garage, and outhouse. To save time, go directly to sheet #1220, and from there you can figure out which direction to take your search. Additionally, check out local history compiled by historian Doug Decker: https://friendsofwilshirepark.org/author/dougdecker.