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Monday, May 16, 2011

History A Brief History of Our Awesome New Office

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Mon, May 16, 2011 at 12:14 PM

It's our first day in the new office, guys! For some reason, the Oregonian wrote about it.

Our office is now in the New Market Theater Building, which has an exciting past. The building was originally the home of Captain Ankeny, a shipping magnate who won the title "Captain" during the Indian Wars. The old timey, native-routing capitalist settled in Portland and built his home here on SW 2nd and Ash in 1857. He built the New Market Theater building, which takes up almost the whole block and was designed by architect William W. Piper, in 1872. I believe the section of the building our office is actually in Built in 1889 as a warehouse, forge, and annex to theater. This is back when theaters needed forges, I guess.

The property had a well which, 150 years later, inspired the name of a bar up the street. The bar is actually a rather apt memorial because when the property was renovated in 1983 (based on a design from SERA architects), they found a bunch of historic alcohol bottles on the premises, including brandy, wine, and Schnapps. Classy guy, the Captain.

16newmarkettheater-now.jpg
The Captain and his alcohol!
  • The Captain and his alcohol!

Thanks to the tasteful renovation and no one tearing it down to build a parking lot, the building remains a prime example of a cast iron architecture in the city. The vaulted fifth-floor windows also offer a prime example of a place to watch the firemen across the street hose off their trucks. Just sayin'.

 

Comments (13) RSS

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1
Well, I guess we all know how Ms. Mirk will be spending a lot of her time, don't we. WSH may have to have her windows painted black.
Posted by ujfoyt on May 16, 2011 at 12:24 PM · Report
2
Wow! You guys must have a perfect view of the medical marijuana smokers in electric wheelchairs getting handjobs from their caretakers down by the waterfront!
Posted by GreenWithEnvy! on May 16, 2011 at 12:31 PM · Report
3
If a major newspaper publishes a story on their website and 5.5 hours later nobody has posted hate-filled comments on it, does this mean the article was never actually published?
Posted by humanclock on May 16, 2011 at 12:34 PM · Report
4
cool. i used to get very drunk there in the 80's on gigantic blue cocktails.
Posted by eric cantona on May 16, 2011 at 12:41 PM · Report
5
Good point humanclock.
Posted by Leaky on May 16, 2011 at 1:59 PM · Report
6
Allow me to be the first to bestow upon Wm.™ Steven Humphrey his new all-purpose nickname "Captain Yankin'it."
Posted by Todd Mecklem on May 16, 2011 at 3:11 PM · Report
7
@ todd: ... and the last, because it's so obviously Captain Stankeny.
Posted by Commenty Colin on May 16, 2011 at 3:49 PM · Report
8
Nice try, Colin, but some might prefer "Captain Wankeny" or even "Captain Skankeny." Maybe we need a poll.
Posted by Todd Mecklem on May 16, 2011 at 7:10 PM · Report
9
"Captain Mountebankeny."

OK, I'm done.
Posted by Todd Mecklem on May 16, 2011 at 7:22 PM · Report
10
Sarah Mirk.... you are a fucking imbecile as a "reporter"... if ya actually got off your worthless ass and did some research, you would have uncovered that the Mercury's new office was a parking garage from the early 70's until its restoration and renovation along with its listing on NHB... Worthless wannabe "reporter"..... I hate lazy and stupid people......
Posted by Buck Naked on May 16, 2011 at 9:37 PM · Report
11
@ 10, I think ellipses are lazy. The way you sprinkle them in makes you sound like an old junkie nodding off....
Posted by Commenty Colin on May 16, 2011 at 11:14 PM · Report
12
Sweet digs.
Posted by Raptured Randy Savage on May 17, 2011 at 8:04 AM · Report
13
Nice bldg to have for your offices Sarah, congrats! Anyone interested in cast iron architecture in Portland should check out this site: http://cipdx.visitahc.org/
Posted by portlandhistorian on May 17, 2011 at 9:32 AM · Report

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