Coming and Going in the East Portland Historic District
May, 21. 2025
By: Fred Leeson
Two changes are afoot – one positive, one not – in the Grand Avenue East Portland National Historic District.
On the plus side, Mother Foucault’s Bookshop has moved into the long-vacant building at 711 SE Grand Ave., a three-story building erected in 1892. The building shares the block with two other buildings built in 1883 and 1896, respectively, by Nathaniel K. West, a dry goods merchant who served as president of the East Portland City Council when East Portland was a separate city.
The oldest building of the three, at 701 SE Grand, now houses the Architectural Heritage Center. The “newest” building at the southern end is a tavern. Though the buildings look they might share common walls, there are narrow spaces behind the front facades that separate them. When they were built, they backed up to the marshy banks of the Willamette River.
Mother Foucault concentrates in used, vintage and rare books. With the Architectural Heritage center next door and the new Literary Arts store across the street, the nexus creates an interesting cultural connection for people interested in books, historical lectures, author presentations, and architectural displays and research all within a couple hundred feet.
On the downside, owners of Next Adventure, a major retailer of used sporting goods, have to enter retirement by liquidating the big store at 436 SE Grand. The store has been a fixture in the historic district for 30 years.
The four-story building was erected in 1911, with four retail storefronts on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors. It is owned today by REACH Community Development, a nonprofit that develops and manages affordable housing. The housing on the upper floors assures continued viability for the building, although filling the retail spaces below will be a major challenge.
Internet shopping and the pandemic seriously damaged retail shopping both in downtown Portland and neighborhood commercial districts.
The space housing Mother Foucault contained a hair styling shop for several years before the pandemic. The upper floors housed offices of Mia Birk, a bicycle transportation consultant. Public records show that her firm still owns the building though she no longer works in it.
Mother Foucault is no stranger to the neighborhood. It formerly operated at 538 SE Morrison in the Clifford Apartments. It was forced to move when the apartment owner started renovating the building.
Fred Leeson writes the Building on History Blog and is a former president of the Bosco-Milligan Foundation and a member of the foundation's Board of Advisors.