Marquam Building at 6th and Morrison, Portland, after partial collapse
- 376G0342
- Item
- 1912-11-21
Photograph showing the Marquam Building at Sixth and Morrison streets (now Southwest 6th Avenue and Southwest Morrison Street) after a section of the building collapsed on Thursday, November 11, 1921. A crowd is standing in the street below the building. A cropped version of this photograph was published on the front page of an Oregon Journal extra on the day of the collapse. The photograph and a story were published under the headline “Big Cave-In Wrecks Marquam Building / Scores Menaced by Avalanche of Brick.” The photograph had the following caption: “Photograph shows great rent in Sixth street side of Marquam building; section of brick wall 16 feet wide by eight stories in height gives way and huge mass of debris is hurled to street below; blocking traffic; structure was undergoing alterations when underpinning is supposed to have given way.” The story reported that no one had been injured in the collapse. On November 25, 1912, the Journal reported that the owners of the building had decided to demolish the Marquam Building and construct a new building in its place. It was replaced by the Northwestern National Bank Building, now known as the American Bank Building. See related image No. 376G0343. Image note: The number 40 is written on the negative and is visible in the upper right corner of the image. The photograph shows discoloration due to deterioration of the negative.