Portland, Michigan

Stopped to get a haircut, took a picture, headed home. Call it a tribute to Road & Track's John Lamm .

Between Mulliken and Portland, Michigan. The snow's melting, at least temporarily; Joan tells me we'll have a white Christmas, regardless. Shot this while running errands this afternoon. Figured I'd post a current photo, for a change, after that run of scanned oldies.

So it says on the sign, atop the bridge. Crossing the Grand River in downtown Portland, Michigan.

Downtown Portland, Michigan.

Portland, Michigan, again. Although it's still in use, this bridge has been preserved more for its looks--and for the town's memories--than for its functionality.

Portland, Michigan.

One last view of Portland, Michigan's old downtown bridge across the Grand River.

Portland, Michigan's Kent Street business district from across the Grand River. This is just down the river from the bridge I've been showing you; the white building on the right is in most of the bridge pictures . I love those stone foundations. And the colors. And the ice on the concrete....

More building backsides from Portland, Michigan's Kent Street business district. Less color, here, but some additional variety and some wonderful texture. And a bit more of the stonework, too, though it's difficult to see well. Y' gotta wonder what the backs of those two red buildings looked like before Amy's Place covered 'em up. That room hanging off the back appears to be Amy's kitchen, by the way. On the left edge of this photo you can see the Grand River Avenue bridge which carries most local traffic across the Grand. Far less picturesque than the old bridge .

Another downtown Portland, Michigan, photograph. The pictures I've been sharing were all taken from a little riverfront park. This fairly substantial house overlooks that park, and the bridge, and the backs of all those buildings. Nice wall. Great porch!

Downtown Portland, Michigan, again. We've crossed Grand River Avenue; this wall keeps Duke's, which is on Grand River at the river, from falling into the water. Really delightful, albeit unruly, stonework.

Portland, Michigan, calls itself "The City of Two Rivers." Just downstream from Duke's (yesterday's photo subject ), the rivers come together. That said, this is: The mouth of the Lookinglass River, as seen from the far bank of the Grand. That's a footbridge, by the way; the structure beyond the bridge is a (small) band shell.

Homes in Portland, Michigan.

One last Portland picture, for the time being.... This fine old Pratt truss bridge crosses the Grand just south of the Lookinglass . It's now part of a bike trail . One of these days I'll have to ride that trail. The Ionia & Lansing Railroad reached Portland late in 1869 or early in 1870; it would be promptly absorbed by the first of a succession of railroads with Detroit and Lansing (or Grand Rapids) in their names. The last of these would become part of the large merger which formed the Pere Marquette in 1900. This bridge was apparently constructed in 1899.

On the right are the Kent Street storefronts to go with the building backsides I posted a couple weeks back. They look quite different from the street. Amy's Place is the green storefront with the false timbers; the blue place next door is The Pub which is also part of Amy's business.

Portland, Michigan, again; Amy's Place (a restaurant) is the nearer building and The Pub (apparently the same business) is the blue storefront. I really like the symetry of the larger building. The backs of these buildings show in another of my Portland photographs. Most midwestern downtowns are collections of century-old brick buildings. The street-level storefronts have typically changed several times to match fashion and the current tenant's whim; above the first story you generally get the original brickwork. It's pretty rare for the two portions to be even vaguely similar, and nearly as rare for the storefront to be half as interesting as the old brickwork. The original storefronts were likely cast iron frames around glass panels. In general, I prefer buildings which have been "restored" in that direction. Downtown Kalamazoo has several such buildings; I don't know of any other local towns with more than one or two.

Downtown Portland, Michigan. These are not the buildings I photographed a few weeks ago ; they're across Kent Street from those buildings. I'll get to the others presently, I promise.

Windows above The Pub in downtown Portland, Michigan. Continuing my photographic exploration of the Kent Street business district.... I've shown you these windows before, by the way.