Above: The City of Portland’s LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project honors and recognizes places of significance in Portland’s queer history. Community members are invited to view an interactive StoryMap and the project’s final documents to learn more about this important and often erased history. Image courtesy Oregon Historical Society Research Library Mss 2988-1, box 2, folder 14.

Out of the Closets and into the Records: Portland’s LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project

By Cayla McGrail

 

Documenting, designating, and preserving lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer+ (LGBTQ+) historic sites is a vital endeavor to celebrate queer experiences while building a more inclusive preservation movement. This work allows us to connect to our shared past, uplift the diverse stories that have shaped our built environment, and ensures these histories are honored for future generations. Historic LGBTQ+ documentation started decades ago with community historians saving discarded materials, reinterpreting past figures, and incorporating LGBTQ+ history into documentation. Over the last decade, especially accelerating since the 2014 launch of the National Park Service’s LGBTQ Heritage Initiative, several jurisdictions nationwide have advanced recognition and preservation of LGBTQ+ historic places.

In Portland, the recently completed LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project led by the City of Portland’s Historic Resources Program opens the door for expanding LGBTQ+-focused historic preservation in the city and around the state. Between 2022 and 2024, the project completed:

Above: Portland’s LGBTQ+ Historic Sites StoryMap allows filtering of surveyed resources by associated theme, decade, and time period.

Fueled by a mix of grants – courtesy of the National Park Service, Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, and Portland City Council – the LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project kicked off in 2022 with a mission to correct the glaring absences of LGBTQ+ histories in past city historic preservation initiatives and the National Register. Through collaboration with many community members, subject matter experts, historians, archivists, property owners, and architectural consultants, hidden gems of Portland’s queer histories were uncovered to prove that the past is far more colorful than the records once suggested.

LGBTQ+ Records in Oregon Historic Sites Database

The LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project unearthed a wealth of information from the Rose City’s queer histories, building on research previously conducted by Oregon Queer History Collective (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest) and The Umbrella Project of Oregon. However, the Portland LGBTQ+ Historic Resources 2024 Reconnaissance Level Survey Report, completed alongside the LGBTQ+ History in Portland, Oregon: A Historic Context Statement, highlights plenty of room for continued exploration into the rainbow past. Top priorities include shinning a brighter light on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) LGBTQ+ sites, bisexual history, and transgender history.

Out of the 90 resources surveyed for their historic ties to LGBTQ+ history, 70 are already  National Register of Historic Places landmarks and/or have documentation completed in prior surveys. Most of these records overlooked any mention of LGBTQ+ history, leaving this layer of Portland’s history untold. Even more upsetting is that these existing records suggest that LGBTQ+ significance alone could not warrant justification for designation. This is a clear reminder of the work still needed to give Portland’s queer past the recognition it deserves.

Above: The Selling Building at 610 SW Alder St.;
Photo courtesy City of Portland

One standout example of updated documentation completed during the LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project is the Selling Building at 610 SW Alder St. Recognized by the National Register of Historic Places solely for its architectural significance as a design by Portland architect A.E. Doyle, the building’s connection to LGBTQ+ history was entirely overlooked in the 1991 nomination. Shortly following the building’s construction, it housed Portland doctor J. Allen Gilbert’s private practice. In 1917-1918, Gilbert consulted with Oregonian Alan Hart, one of the first documented trans men in the United States, to perform surgeries that helped align Hart’s gender identity and expression. This groundbreaking moment in early gender-affirming care has long been documented by other historians and is further detailed in the project’s context statement. Alan Hart was also featured in the Oregon Historical Society’s exhibit Crossing Boundaries: Portraits of a Transgender West.

The Selling Building is likely eligible for a National Register amendment to recognize the building’s significance in the areas of LGBTQ+ history. The James Beard Public Market set to open in fall 2025 plans to utilize part of the ground-floor retail space.

Though many historic resources have previous documentation, just as many resources have been missed from any level of documentation. For instance, located in the boundaries of the Historic and Architectural Properties in Hollywood’s Historic Commercial District in Portland, Oregon Multiple Property Documentation is the former location of the Portland Women’s Theatre Company (PWTC). First founded in 1979, PWTC resided at 1728 NE 40th Avenue between 1987 and 1997. With its improvisational women’s troupe, Acting Out, these theater companies brought to life plays that explored themes relevant to all women, with a particular focus on lesbian experiences. 1728 NE 40th Avenue is significant in the areas of LGBTQ+ and women’s arts and entertainment history.

The updates and additions of LGBTQ+ historic resources to the Oregon statewide inventory increases the number and thematic diversity of resources, in turn advancing Oregon’s Historic Preservation Plan 2024-2033. While inclusion in a historic resource survey does not designate or protect these resources, the documentation and contextualization provides valuable information that can be used by property owners who voluntarily pursue future landmark designation, and researchers who are interested in Portland’s historic queer built environment.

Above: Former location of Portland Women’s Theatre Company: Photo Courtesy of Cayla McGrail.

Looking Back, Moving Forward

LGBTQ+ advocates, archivists, historians, preservationists, and community members never cease working to document, share, and protect our histories despite the City of Portland’s 2022-2024 grant-funded phase of the LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project concluding. This project is one step of countless that advances honoring diverse and historically excluded stories that have made Portland what it is today.

Among the plethora of potential projects, the following recommendations may inform both government and community-sponsored activities in the future:

  • Many locations where LGBTQ+ events occurred were never widely publicized, leaving only traces in memories of community members. Conducting oral histories and community sharing events is important to preserve lived experiences that can inform and be incorporated into documentation.
  • Some sites were unfortunately demolished long before this project began. Public historians and artists should think creatively on how we can memorialize our lost places through public interpretation, plaques, murals, public right-of-way markers, and other artistic displays. This is important for non-demolished sites as well to creatively highlight and publicize a resource’s LGBTQ+ history!
  • Utilize digital humanity tools like StoryMap to both expand documentation strategies, interpretations, visibility, and accessibility of history, and . This could include making digital walking tours and online exhibits, like the City of Portland Archives and Records Center For Love & Life: Celebrating LGBTQIA2S+ History in Portland.
  • Amend and designate new National Register of Historic Places listings and/or local landmarks for significance in the area of LGBTQ+ history. The LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project identified potential amendments and new listings, though it is not an exhaustive list.
  • Include and incorporate LGBTQ+ historic resources and history in other preservation initiatives. For instance, the Historic Resource Program is studying legacy business programs to provide recommendations to Portland City Council in 2026 for a similar program here. The LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project may inform this study to better understand historically marginalized legacy businesses.

Cayla McGrail holds a Master’s Degree in Historic Preservation with a focus on Queer Preservation. Seeking to combine queer theories with preservation methods led to become the Associate Project Manager of the City of Portland’s LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project, between 2022 and 2024. They continue to research and document queer history. Follow them on Instagram at Inqueery_pdx and reach out at inqueerypdx@gmail.com