Thursday Trivia Challenge: Burnside Edition

In celebration  of our new home on NE Burnside, here is a short set of trivia questions to test your knowledge about our new neighborhood, known as Lower Burnside. Portland trivia buffs, can you keep up?

Questions
1.Possibly the most important street in understanding Portland geography, what does Burnside mean on a map of Portland?
2.Burnside was not always named Burnside, what was its prior name?
3.Who was Burnside named for?
4.Burnside shares its name with one of Portland's bridges that connects Burnside on the East and West sides of the Willamette River. When did that bridge open?
5.Lower Burnside has several buildings with an unusual feature. What is it?
6.The building feature in the last question had an unusual cause. Do you know why?
7.Lower Burnside is now a one way street heading East from the bridge past W.L. May. To approach W.L. May,and our parking lot (or the Burnside Bridge), from the East side of Portland, what street do you take?
8.Our new building most recently housed a paper warehouse. Prior to that Pacific Appliance parts (who merged with W.L.May) was located here. The building wasn't always a warehouse though. What business was the new W.L. May storefront built to house?

Answers
1.Officially divides the North and South Side of the city.

2.B St.

3.Not named for the Civil War general many suspect, the street was named for David W. Burnside, an early Portland merchant.

4.1926

5.Arcade sidewalks. (Sidewalk built under the overhang of a multi story building)

6.In 1931, the city determined that Burnside needed widening to accomodate growth in traffic. Two lanes were added, one each direction (Burnside was a two way street at the time) and the sidewalks were removed. Rather than demolishing the building to allow for new sidewalks, the lower storefonts were recessed and the older support pillars for the upper floors were left in place with the side walk behind the pillars, creating the arcade and space on the street for the new lanes.

7.Couch St. (Pronounced Kootch)

8.A bowling alley

Sources:
City of Portland/Portland Bureau of Transportation/Burnside Street History https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/295412
Cafe Unknown/Hung Over on Burnside
http://www.cafeunknown.com/2006/08/hung-over-on-burnside-they-were-called.html

Scoring
O-2 correct: You know a bit, but still have a lot to learn.
2-4 correct: You know a fair amount about Lower Burnside history.
4-6 correct: You know a lot about Lower Burnside history.
6-8 correct You are an Portland history star! Great job!

This is a monthly feature. To submit your own trivia questions (and answers) email: rob.m@wlmay.com with the subject line "trivia".

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