Cast Iron PDX

For many years I have had "cast iron on the brain." This late 19th century style of architectural design and ornament, renowned for its stately pilasters topped by Corinthian acanthus patterns, single-pour or "t-shaped" arches, grand facades, medallions, and cast faces of all kinds of creatures from humans to wolves, graced the fronts of many commercial structures and districts until the coming of steel in the early 20th century. In this narrow period of time, from about 1850-1900, several US cities, including New York, San Francisco and Portland (OR) had entire districts of buildings with these fronts. At one time around 1880, for example, about 180 of Portland's 200 commercial buildings had cast-iron features. But technological and philosophical change ended that. With the advent of cheaper and stronger steel, builders switched to the new product with about as much reluctance as young people switched to cell from dial phones about 15 years ago. With the advent of newer philosophies of how cities should work, old cast-iron structures were destroyed without consciousness of their historical value.

The philosophical point is illuminating. One way a "modern" (i.e., after WWII) city was thought to work best was to provide ample opportunities for the automobile to enter into and stay put in the urban core area all day long. Thus, you needed lots of wide roads and multi-story parking garages. In addition, after about 1965 cities were "rediscovering" their rivers. Rivers, which for a long time had been the economic life-line of many cities but had become little more than flowing toilets in our midst, were now seen as assets to the aesthetic attractiveness of the urban area. One needed riverfront walks and parks, with eco-friendly activities happening on "Front" or "1st" street. Both of these philosophical changes in American life affected the grand cast-iron structures of the late 19th century. In Portland, the entire East side of Front street, fronting the Willamette River, for most of a mile had been made of two-to-four story cast-iron structures. Boats could pull up to the docks in the rear of these buildings and be unloaded without moving goods more than a few feet. But with the advent of planning for a "Harbor Freeway" and then, with the birth of Tom McCall Waterfront Park, these cast-iron structures had to go.

Indeed, one of the ironies of all of this is that Portlanders, who pride themselves on saving the world almost as much as Bostonians, have destroyed more valuable things from their past in order to make way for "green" than almost any other city. Go through the inventory of noble Victorian homes in Portland or of cast-iron buildings. Many were destroyed, within 40-50 years of their construction, to make way for the latest philosophical or ideological movement. Most would say that the waterfront park idea is a good one; but a fair amount of destruction, waste and burial of human creativity and valuable work had to take place so that we could restore the facade of "innocence" or "pristine beauty" to the city. It makes me wonder what kind of horrors the "sustainability folk" will wreak on us and the world when they truly take over...

The Visit

I needed to be in Portland the other day for an orientation session at the Oregon Council for the Humanities (I will be speaking around the state under their auspices on the death penalty, if anyone invites me, beginning around Nov. 1, 2009). Because I am not a fan of four-hour administrative meetings, and because the meeting didn't begin until almost noon, I decided to have some fun and first visit the Portland Architectural Heritage Center at 701 SE Grand Ave., where there is a rather unprecedented and very attractive exhibit of many artifacts from the cast-iron era in Portland. There are about 20 surviving structures with cast-iron features in Portland; sections from many of the other 160 buildings were rescued, when these noble buildings were destroyed, by Eric Ladd and others. Now many of the artifacts are owned by the Heritage Center, though they are stored in various warehouses throughout the city. But the Center has decided to put on an exhibit of about 30 of these pieces, along with a splendid historical narrative setting the context for and describing the features of cast-iron architecture.

Portland is particularly blessed to have an architectural historian who cut his historical teeth, so to speak, on cast-iron architecture. William Hawkins, whose The Grand Era of Cast-Iron Architecture in Portland (1976) patiently went through the design features of these buildings, really became the voice or the trumpet to the city that something needed to be done in a concerted way to treasure and preserve this valuable part of Portland's past. A year after his book was published the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, where most of the remaining cast-iron buildings are located, was raised from a being on the list in the National Register of Historic Places to becoming a National Historic Landmark. A nice complement to the razing of many of these buildings in the 1950s-1970s.

Yet, National Landmark status, desirable as it is, doesn't do everything. While it might increase your visibility for a while, it still leaves to the enterprise and energy of citizens the devising of ways to preserve the heritage. One of the principal methods of getting the word out is through an exhibit and the educational materials that are made available there.

Conclusion

Thus, when we had the confluence of all of these factors--a trip to Portland, free time on the "front end," a well-planned exhibit, desire to learn about the cast-iron beauties and a good price ($5), I was ready to learn. The next essay describes a few things from the exhibit.

[Next]

4097