TALKS AND EVENTS
Join us at our West's Block location for various talks and events! All of our talks will be hosted on site, at 701 SE Grand Ave.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Portland’s Residential and Commercial Architectural Styles
At the AHC we regularly receive calls, including everyone from residents to realtors, asking us to help determine the style of a house or other type of building. If you’ve ever wanted to learn what style to call your house or your favorite Portland area building, here’s a great opportunity!
Please join us, as Professor Tom Hubka presents this course in architectural styles, as he takes a look at common Portland area designs. Through photos and diagrams, Tom will help us to better understand the details to look for in styles, including Greek Revival, Romanesque, Classical Revival, International, and even Post-Modernism. From architect designed to the vernacular, this program will provide you with a better understanding of the buildings we live and work in every day.
January 17, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Vocabulary of Architecture
Do you find yourself describing the elements of buildings in terms of thing-a-ma-jigs and what-cha-ma-call-its?
Please join us as presenter John Doyle helps demystify the language of architecture as it relates to buildings commonly found around the Portland area.
This program is ideal for anyone interested in architecture. After this session you’ll be able to impress your friends, family, co-workers, and contractors with your new-found knowledge of architectural terms such as gambrel, oculus, lintel, corbel, and quoin. From pilaster to pediment, there’s sure to be a little something for the architectural nerd in all of us!
January 31, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Don DuPay & Theresa Griffin Kennedy Talk and Book Signing Free Event
Join us for a talk with Portland authors Don DuPay and Theresa Griffin Kennedy. They will talk about their books and have copies available for purchase and signing. Don was a Portland Police officer from 1961-1978 and writes about his personal experiences as a street cop and served on Homicide Detail. Theresa Griffin Kennedy is and editor, journalist and writes Portland nonfiction, fiction and poetry.
February 14, 2026
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The Basics of
Wood Window Repair
The AHC welcomes back Patty Spencer, owner of Fresh Air Sash Cord Repair, Inc. Patty will share over 25 years of experience in preserving and restoring the function of original, double-hung, wooden windows found in homes built in the 1940s and earlier. With a focus on restoring the operating function, this workshop will cover the basics that homeowners should know, including: signs of window deterioration, preventive maintenance measures, good maintenance and repair practices, plus ideas about weatherization. Visit Fresh Air Sash's website
February 28, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Oregon's Historic Homes and the People Who Lived in Them
Historic homes tell stories. Some of them are rather plain and some very extravagant. Some were the homes of Oregon business and community leaders and served as meeting places for people who helped create our state. They have been preserved, and many are now museums.
Darrell Jabin: Oregon’s Traveling Historian has been researching and sharing Oregon history since 2009. He has taken dozens of trips throughout Oregon and taken advantage of those trips by discovering and researching interesting people, places, and events. He used that information to produce award winning videos, create a growing following on social media, host a twice monthly radio show and provide frequent informative and entertaining presentations.
March 14, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Oregon Gold William F. Willingham Ph.D. Talk & Book Signing Free Event
Willingham shows how mining was an important aspect of the state’s history, far greater than has been traditionally understood. He provides special attention and analysis to the role Chinese miners played in the story of eastern Oregon mining and to the demographic makeups of two major mining communities, Susanville and Granite, that thrived during the period.
March 21, 2026
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
The Portland Zoo Railroad:
The Biggest Little Railway in the Country
The Portland Zoo Railway (PZRy) was founded in 1958 in the West Hills of Portland, one year before the opening of the new Portland zoo. Its flagship, the streamlined, Space Age-styled Zooliner made its debut on June 5, 1958, and carried over 2,500 riders that day. This was a year before the opening of the zoo, and the fares collected over the season, as planned, were used to fund and build the zoo. By the end of the summer, the Zooliner had carried 200,000 passengers.
The magnificence of the Zooliner rolling down the track with flags flying, symbolized the optimism and growth of the post-war era. A year later, the steam-powered Oregon Locomotive No. 1 was added to the rolling stock. This presentation by Mellissa Darby will trace the history of the railroad and explore the route, examine the rolling stock, and discuss some famous passengers.
March 28, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
WALKING TOURS
From March to November, we offer tours of historic neighborhoods throughout the city. Click here to learn more!
