In a message dated 3/29/2005 4:39:32 PM Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > > Here is what I found in the Portland City Directories at the GFO. > > The 1933 Portland City Directory for the address section of 946 Milwaukie > Arilla Peyton and Mrs. Bernita Richter were living at that address. > > The 1934 Portland City directory has no 3 digit residences on Milwaukie. > There is no Arilla Peyton in the alphabetical name pages. > Bernita Richter is living at 4636 SE Milwaukie. > > I cannot prove that this is the same address as the previous 946 Milwaukie > residence. > I think that this address, 4636, is most likely the same residence as 946 > was. > > I tried to use a 1912 City Directory to see who was living at 946 Milwaukie. > (Note the absence of SE.) > I could look that up if I had the name of the person you know were there > then. > > I found that the early directories were alphabetical by the residents names > but > did not seem to also be arranged by address as more recent directories were. > > I hope this has helped. > > Maggie Kitts I think 1926 is the first City Directory which has the reverse directory in it (if memory serves me). The Sept 1931 ordinance (really short, but it's on the Multnomah Co GenWeb page at www.rootsweb.com/~ormultno/land/ord61325.htm) authorizing the renumbering also standardized the SE, SW, NE, NW, and N designation that streets have today. Earlier they usually gave addresses as "200 East 12th N" to differentiate it from "200 East 12th S." As I recall, in the pre-1932 city directories, the street name was alphabetized as though "East" was the first word in the street name. But that was only for streets that extended across the NESW lines. Downtown streets were all plain (no S) "200 12th", but the ones above Burnside on the west side of the river were designated as "200 12th N." I guess this is why the standardization was a very good thing. Must have been a mess to live with! Julie Kidd