Pittock Block

Story

The Pittock Block is a historic building in downtown Portland, Oregon, occupying a city block between SW 9th and 10th Avenues, SW Stark and Washington Streets, and west of O'Bryant Square.HistoryBefore the Pittock Block was built, the site was occupied by the home of Henry L. Pittock, the publisher of The Oregonian. Pittock was preparing to move into the Pittock Mansion and leased the entire block to a California investor with the requirement that a "worthy" building named after Pittock would be built on the site.In May 1913, architects Doyle, Patterson & Beach announced they had been awarded the $700,000 contract to construct the Pittock Block, with construction to begin immediately. According to a front-page story in the May 25, 1913, edition of The Oregonian: "One-half of the building will be eight stories in height, with frontage on the Washington Street side, while the Stark Street side will be three stories high. In addition to a deep basement there will be a sub-basement on the part of the block facing Tenth street. The Northwestern Electric Company, for which the structure is to be erected, will occupy a part of the West Park street side and all of the ground floor on the Stark Street side. The remainder of the ground floor will be designed for stores. The upper floors will be used for office purposes. The building will be of reinforced concrete construction."