>I am attempting to help someone in Sweden gather some information about the Sellwood area in Portland. His grandfather came to America in 1909 to earn some money and stayed with relatives at 621 Tenino Street (near the east end of the Sellwood bridge). He would like to know, if possible, what that area was like back in 1909 and what it is like today. Any information that you could provide will be appreciated!! Thanks, Susanne Brown< Sellwood is a pretty nice area. Today it is the hotbed of Portland's antique industry. As a result, the property values have gone up, and a lot of gentrification has gone on. I think because the "town" area was allowed to stay fairly intact through the years - it's got a nice collection of Victorian era houses. Or maybe I'd call them cottages. Smaller Victorian houses. But the antique dealers have really gotten a foothold there. It has helped retain it's character. Sellwood sits up on a bluff, and in 1909 there was no bridge, but was a ferry across the river at about the same point. At the base of the bluff is Oaks Bottoms. Oaks Amusement Park was (and is) located there in 1909. There is (and was) a bandstand, a roller rink (don't know its age), and a few "rides" today. There may have been in the past, but I don't really know the history of the park well - just as it's been during my life. North of the park today (and still in the Bottoms) is now a wildlife refuge. There are lots of herons in that area. The shoreline along the bottoms is also a popular mooring place for houseboats. The area near the Sellwood bridge has some condominiums and lots of boat slips. The river in that area still today is beautiful, and fairly untouched by development. The western bank of the river has a park along the river edge, a road running down near the river level, but all up and then over the side of the hill behind it is is the site of River View Cemetery (which has a website at www.riverviewcemetery.com). So, looking from the eastern shore (where Sellwood is), you get pretty much a gorgeous, tree-covered bank opposite. Just north of the "townsite" of Sellwood, along the east-bank bluff, is a large city park. It was there in 1909. There was a trolley line into town, so all-in-all, I'd say he lived in a pleasant situation - lovely scenery, lots of entertainment available. What more could you want! Here's a site with a photo of the bridge: http://www.bizave.com/portland/bridges/Sellwood-Bridge.html Oaks Park has a website: http://www.oakspark.com/ This is a website put up by the neighborhood paper (The Bee) which looks like it has lots of good info on the history of the area: http://www.spirit1.com/~deehull/features.html This is a site about a project I didn't know of, but found in my searches. It gives a good, and realistic, idea of what the neighborhood is like: http://www.livable.org/awards/shareit.html Hope this helps some. Julie JulieKidd@compuserve.com + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + - - + NGS Conference, 16-19 May 2001, Portland, Oregon. For information on the conference, go to: http://www.gfo.org/ngs2001/index.htm

I am looking for any information on Omar Kiger and family who moved to the Portland area in about 1930. Omar later moved to Glendale California where he died. Walter John Kiger