What was life in Portland like 100 years ago?

We knew that World War I was under way, but that was still Europe's problem - at least until May. That's when we got news of the sinking of the Lusitania, a British ocean liner, by a German U-boat.

The incident drew the U.S. closer to war, though it would be another two years before we would actually jump in.

Here in the Rose City, we were more interested in things like the new Columbia River Scenic Highway, and the fact that we had finally gotten our very first traffic signal. It was installed at Southwest Third Avenue and Burnside Street.

Also, kids in the Concordia neighborhood in Northeast Portland had just filled up a brand new-fangled schoolhouse called Kennedy School. Unlike most earlier schools in town, it was all built on one level.

Amazing!

One way to get a feel for what life was like in 1915 is to cruise through some of the old photos from that year or around that year that are available in the photo blog operated by the Portland Archives and Records Center.

It's called "Vintage Portland" and contains photos from a wide range of sources, including old pictures taken by city employees, county employees, news photos and photos from private collections that have been donated to PARC.

-- John Killen

503-221-8538; @johnkillen