Portland, Ore. – A tourist from Southern California snapped a photo of himself in downtown Portland 50 years ago. He returned this week to recreate the photo, with some help from social media.
Cyrus Molavi was a 21-year-old college kid on his way to the University of Washington in Seattle, when he decided to stop in downtown Portland, “In 1976, which was [the] Bicentennial year, I was just passing through here and saw this rose garden, and decided to have someone take my picture.” He says he never really came back to Portland, “But this year, since it was the [nation’s] 250th, I decided to come and repeat that photo.”
The problem was, he couldn’t remember exactly where he snapped the shot. He posted the photo in the Portland Memories Facebook group, “And about 1,400 people responded. It was amazing.” They collectively determined the photo was taken at the corner of SW Fourth and Madison, in front of Portland’s City Hall. Molavi says, “One guy gave the GPS address, another lady actually rode her bike to this location and mimicked my photo because this new building wasn’t there in that photo.” That “new building” is the Portland Building, constructed in 1982…