Rich Hotel -

This is the Jewish and Japanese part of town.

At 211 northwest Couch st., built in 1905, the Modern Rich apartments used to be the Northern Hotel and the Workingman's Shoe Repair, owned by Harry Steinberg. "He was an amazing story teller, and they have wonderful recordings his niece took when he was still living, of him singing songs in Yiddish.

Shortly before WWII, there were about 125 small hotels run by the Japanese here in what was known as Little Tokyo, including the Northern Hotel, now called the Rich. 

Within this area there were 2 dept. stores, a daily newspaper, bath houses & 2 Buddhist temples.
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Next is the Blagen Block, an area with many more saloons, just like Erickson's.

Blagen Block -

In 1888 - Danish immigrant Neils Blagen constructed this imposing High Victorian Italianate cast iron building in 1888, the same year that Whitechapel, London England became infamous for the Jack the Ripper murders, is of interesting note. 

Its colonnade was echoed by rows on rows of columns in adjacent buildings.

FOLLOW ALONG WITH PICTURES

SEE PICTURE, SECTION 20

SEE PICTURE, SECTION 20

This building is the best remaining example of cast-iron buildings with increasingly opulent decorative elements in the city and perhaps on the West Coast', and remains the last of the many large 4th floor commercial palaces which once dominated this section of the city. Lovingly restored in the 1980s, it is presently owned by the University of Oregon. When built, this ornate colonnade of cast iron columns was echoed by rows and rows of columns in nearby buildings.  

Constructed for the Noon Bag, Tent Awning & Sail making business, one of the largest of its kind in the northwest—it boasted a modern amenity; 2 special steam elevators carried the people and canvas from the basement to the 4th floor. 

Especially durable elevator construction allowed for the weight & vibrations of the machinery. 

Blagen later used his construction skills to bring one of the 1st railroads over the Rockies importing 300 Chinese laborers to complete it.  ​
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Directly across the street is the Norton House -

In 1877, the "West Shore", a famed promotional magazine based in Portland, described the Norton House as "possessing all the modern Improvements and located near the railroad and steam boat landings with street cars passing the house every 5 minutes." 

The sole brick building in the area may have had difficulty maintaining a 1st class hotel status, surrounded as it was by mud and squalor, sailor's saloons, laundries, heavy industry and houses of ribald reputation. 

The original 3 story building was reduced to 2 when a fire raged through the 3rd floor. 
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Next is the The Merchants Hotel -

The Merchants Hotel -
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In 1880 -  The High Victorian Italianate cast iron hotel (2nd largest collection of cast iron in the U.S., after Soho NYC) was only 3 blocks from all the railroad and steamer landings and was first class in all its appointments, reads its ad. 

It appears the same as it did then.

The Nicolai Brothers, natives of Saxony Germany, moved to Portland in 1868, where they founded the Nicolai Brothers Co., a lumbering, planning mills & a sash and door plant. 

Their sash & door plant was located on the entire block right across the street. 

With profits, the brothers built the merchants hotel in 1880.     
 
In the lobby is Old Town Pizza: Portland's Favorite Haunt

Rich in history, Old Town Pizza was founded in 1974.  A constant presence at Old Town Pizza is Nina (pronounced "Nigh-na"), their resident ghost. Nina is often seen in a black dress observing diners and wandering the basement below.  

Nina's been there for more than 100 years. Old Town Pizza sits in the original Merchant's Hotel lobby. 

Underneath the floor boards are the Shanghai Tunnels.
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(The following is R rated) -

Old Town Pizza is located in what used to be called the Old North End, a section of the city with a rather questionable reputation. Despite the upstanding clientele of the Merchant Hotel, even it was known for offering one of the oldest professions in the world: prostitution.  

​As legend goes, one of the young "working women" was Nina, sold into this life by a thriving white slavery market. In an effort to clean up the neighborhood, traveling missionaries convinced Nina to share information in exchange for freeing her from a fate she did not choose.  

Nina cooperated but soon afterward was found dead in the hotel, now Old Town Pizza. Thrown down the elevator shaft, Nina is reported to have never left the building.  

​Could it be Nina who carved her name in the brick of the old elevator shaft, now the backdrop of a cozy booth in the rear of the restaurant?​

OUR LAST STOP IS THE SOCIETY HOTEL

OR HOBO'S