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
Till Death Do Us Part: Mortuary Architecture of Portland
Visual Storyteller & Author Don Nelson will be presenting this program of funeral homes of Portland, Oregon from the past into the present day. Many were built into established buildings, while others were erected specifically for their businesses by known architects.
July 11, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Lost Oregon Streetcars Presentation by Richard Thompson
Local historian Richard Thompson celebrates the lost trolleys that once plied Oregon's small-town streets. Learn of the devastating 1922 fire that scorched Astoria's plank road railways and put a halt to its once-thriving streetcar network. Hear about a beloved white horse named Old Charlie who proved more reliable at pulling Albany's first streetcars than a steam locomotive. Smile at the spectacle of university students being carted back to their dormitories on the Eugene Street Railway’s midnight "drunk express.” Take pride in the tiny town of Cherry Grove, which became the first in the West to embrace new battery technology.
July 18, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Asylum & Cemetery : Hawthorne Asylum & Lone Fir Cemetery
Explore the History of Portland's 19th Century Hawthorne Asylum & Lone Fir Cemetery through historic images and stories.
Lone Fir Cemetery's History and future will be discussed.
Presentation by Norm Gholston
July 25, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Beaumont-Wilshire: Origins and Early History
Like many Northeast Portland neighborhoods, Beaumont-Wilshire was carved from orchards, open fields, and patches of forest. As a young Portland sprawled across the river, the rural landscape of the eastside was replaced by a grid of neighborhoods, a busy streetcar system, and tens of thousands of new residents.
Using early maps, documents, photos, newspaper accounts, and memories he’s collected from past residents, local historian Doug Decker will explore the early years of of the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood to examine connections between past, present, and future.
November 14, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
WALKING TOURS
From March to November, we offer tours of historic neighborhoods throughout the city. Click here to learn more!
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