Portland's Alberta Rose Theatre

Situated at the northwest corner of Northeast 30th Avenue and Alberta Street, the Alberta Rose Theatre is a 1920s-era community theater with historical connections to Portland, Oregon’s African American community. The theater itself is currently situated at 3000 NE Alberta Street, connected to the larger building complex of 3000-3018 NE Alberta Street. As of October 2021, the property at 3000-3018 NE Alberta Street was host to five local businesses, including the Alberta Rose Theatre, Poor Mouchette Antique Jewelry Store, Dogwood Wine and Flowers, Barber-Q Barber Shop, and The Fix Hut Phone Repair. The building itself is a two-story commercial block building built in the Spanish Revival style. The Spanish Revival style was popular throughout the United States between 1915 and 1940. The style was additionally notable for its character-defining features, such as a low pitched roof, little to no eave overhangs, red tile roofs, one or more prominent arches above doors and principal windows, stucco wall surfaces, wall surfaces extending gables without breaks, and asymmetrical facades.

Consequently, the building at 3000 Northeast Alberta exhibits many character-defining features of the Spanish Revival style, including a low-pitched roof without eave overhangs, red tile roof coverings, arches above principal windows, stucco wall surfaces, and an asymmetrical facade. However, several notable elements of the building distinguish its architectural character from other Spanish Revival buildings of the same period. For one, the roof of the building is a combined hipped and flat roof, with a flat roof lining the northern elevation of the building and a hipped deck roof portion on the southern elevation. The hipped south elevation deck roof is accentuated by regularly laid straight barrel mission tile, while the north elevation flat roof is accentuated along the edge by a basic array of dentils.

Along the west elevation of the building, there are two one-over-one pane vinyl windows with brick drip sills, an asymmetrical four-light half-moon arch-topped fan light-accentuated single-pane window with brick surrounds and a brick drip sill, one mission-style engaged parapet wall accentuation, three small wood double casement windows with brick drip sills, three engaged rectangular parapet wall accentuations, one small wood four-pane awning window, one six pane vinyl window with a brick drip sill, and street-facing commercial windows topped with transoms.

Facing the northwest elevation of the building is an engaged mission-style arched entryway and one double one-by-one pane set of vinyl windows separated by a wooden median and accentuated by a brick drip sill. The mission arch entryway exhibits two double doors, upward sloped terracing, a small railing, and a box office bay. Along the northern elevation of the property, the second-floor exhibits eleven one-over-one vinyl windows with brick drip sills and a marquee. On the first floor of the north elevation, there are an array of street-facing windows with transoms, a double door with a half-dome eight-pane fanlight, an asymmetrical four-light half-moon arch-topped fan light-accentuated single-pane window with brick surrounds and a brick drip sill, as well as one mission-style engaged parapet wall accentuation. The mission-style parapet wall accentuations surrounding the building also appear to be based on the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, California, which was notable for its influence on Spanish Revival architects of the 1920s. 

The location of the current building was first platted in 1906 by Multnomah County as Elberta, a subdivision situated between Northeast 27th Avenue to the west, Northeast Alberta Street to the north, Northeast Prescott Street to the south, and Northeast 33rd Avenue to the east. At the time, the building’s location was situated at the convergence of Northeast 30th Street and Alberta Street. Additionally, prior to the Portland Street Renumbering Ordinance of 1933, the address of the building was situated at 922-927 Alberta Street. Before 1906, the land of the Elberta plat was owned by a woman by the name of Angeline B. Richardson. Richardson was the daughter of Lydia Buckman, who died in June of 1906 two months before Richardson sold the Elberta plat. Lydia Buckman was the wife of A.H. Buckman, brother to Cyrus Buckman, both of whom were the namesake of the Buckman neighborhood in Southeast Portland.

Alberta Street, where the theater is currently situated, has a long history connected with the early development of the City of Portland as well as the development of Portland’s African American community. In the late nineteenth century, much of Northeast Portland, including Alberta Street was separate from the City of Portland on the west side of the Willamette River. From 1887 to 1891, Alberta Street to the west of Northeast 24th Avenue was part of the City of Albina. By 1891, the City of Portland annexed the City of Albina, making the remainder of Alberta Street officially part of the city. Streetcar service along Alberta Street began in 1903 and continued until the year 1948. This meant that between 1903 and 1948, Alberta Street saw tremendous growth in residential construction to meet growing housing demands and streetcar access to Downtown Portland. 

One notable area of Alberta Street that saw an early influx of African American residents was an area called Walnut Park. Walnut Park became a residential subdivision in 1904, covering roughly 12 blocks directly northeast of North Williams Avenue and Northeast Alberta Street. The area itself was notable for having no restrictive covenants preventing African Americans and other ethnic groups from home ownership. The neighborhood subsequently became a hub of both Black and white residents. 

In tandem with the growth of the African American community along Alberta, many African Americans were continually subjected to racist restrictive covenants, Oregon Black exclusion laws initially passed under the Oregon Provisional Government, discriminatory real estate sales, and racist zoning practices that prevented African American Portlanders from acquiring housing and civil rights. By 1926, Oregon’s Black exclusion laws were repealed by the state legislature. However, restrictive covenants, discriminatory real estate sales, and racist zoning policies were still affecting the ability of African Americans to find places to acquire housing. One major decision that affected the community greatly was the 1919 decision of the Portland Realty Board (PRB). In 1919, the PRB decided to adopt a rule declaring it unethical for a real estate agent to sell property to African American or Chinese persons in a white neighborhood. By enshrining this rule across Portland’s built environment, neighborhoods throughout Portland were subject to further restrictive covenants from 1919 forward. 

The Albina area that encompassed much of North and inner-Northeast Portland, including Alberta Street, was also a diverse area at the turn of the century that served as the location for a variety of diverse communities. The area included communities of African American, Russian, German, Polish, Scandinavian, and Irish residents. This diversity continued to shift from 1900 to 1950, as Portland’s overall population grew from 90,426 to 373,628. Much of the growth along Alberta Street after 1909, when the streetcar network was extended north along Northeast 30th Avenue toward Ainsworth Street. This meant that the location of the Alberta Rose Theatre was a prime nexus point for public gatherings.

Portland, and consequently Alberta Street, continued to grow in the 1920s. During the 1920s, The Mallory Avenue Christian at 126 Northeast Alberta Street was one significant early African American Alberta Street resource that began construction. Construction of the church started in 1925, three years after the founding of the church organization, with construction stalling as a result of the Great Depression and World War II. During the 1930s and 1940s, the church was modernized to reflect shifting tastes in architectural design. Two additional floors were added to the building during the postwar years, during which the congregation moved their operations out of the basement where they began church services. Today, the Mallory Avenue Christian Church is a Portland City Landmark, serving as a historical marker of the growing African American community along Alberta Street.   

On May 6, 1926, the Alameda Theatre held its grand opening with a showing of the film Classified, starring Corrine Griffith, while advertising for a later showcase of the Robert S. Leonard film Dance Madness. The opening ceremony for the theater was accompanied by a performance of the B.P.O.E. No. 142 Royal Purple 10-piece orchestra. In constructing the theater, a variety of businesses were contracted to build the theater, including Fox and Company Plumbing and Drainage, Paramount Electric Sign Company, E.L. Knight Electric Company, James A.C. Tait and Company Sand and Gravel, the Vancouver Central Planing Mill, Western Loan and Building Company of Salt Lake City, V.W. McCormack Cement Contractors, Hackett Digger Company Sand and Gravel, Portland Electric Power Company, and the generically-named West Coast Construction Company.

The building itself was designed by architect Walter E. Kelly, who was active in the Portland area between 1923 and 1957. While Kelly was responsible for the plans of the building, the actual construction of the building was contracted to an M.F. White of the West Coast Construction Company. It is speculative whether the M.F. White who constructed the building might have been the architect Frederick Mason White. White was the nephew to the famous American architect Standford White of the notable late-nineteenth-century firm McKim, Mead, and White. He was also individually notable for constructing several similar Spanish Revival buildings throughout Oregon in the 1920s.

The original owner of the building was the local entertainment company Seltzer and Sons, run by siblings Leo, Oscar, and Celia Seltzer. The Seltzers were a Portland-based family, with each of the three siblings eventually going into the business of starting movie theater chains together. On July 10, 1926, Seltzer and Sons incorporated the Alameda Theatre Company for $15,000. Upon the theater’s opening, the building was heated by gas, held a seating capacity of 750, and boasted a Portland-made pipe organ constructed in the Pipe Organ Building at 27th and Morgan Street. The original organ was likely made by William Wood Pipe Organ Company, a moderately well-known Portland-based organ construction firm that moved to a building at 27th and Morgan Street in 1926 to expand operations. As of 1964, there was no complete listing of organs produced by the company, even though their work could be found throughout multiple Portland locations between the 1920s and the 1960s. The Seltzers, meanwhile, were local graduates of Lincoln High School and had constructed several notable local theaters including The Alameda Theatre, The Highway Theater, and The Oregon Theater. Considering that William Wood also constructed the pipe organ for the Oregon Theater, it is highly likely that William Wood also built the pipe organ for the Alameda Theatre. 

From 1926 onwards, the Alameda Theatre was showcasing a variety of films, including a showing of the 1927 film Rookies starring Karl Dane. The year 1928 proved fruitful for the Alameda Theatre as well, featuring showings of films such as Becky, Breed of the Sunset, A Texas Steer, The Crimson City, The Little Snob, The Upland Rider, Happiness Ahead, Big Noise, A Moment of Temptation, and the groundbreaking sound film The Jazz Singer. By 1928, the name of the theater had changed to Lacey’s Alameda Theater. So far the reasoning for this name change has not been adequately determined. As the theater continued operations, while changing its name back to the Alameda Theatre, the year 1929 also proved to be another busy year. In 1929, the theater held showing of films, such as The Bellamy Trial, The King of Kings, The Desert Song, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Rainbow Man, and The Sophomore.

As the Great Depression severely damaged the economic security of the United States, showings at the Alameda began to dwindle. Despite this, several showings occurred in 1930, including premieres of films such as Side Street, Fast Company, Greene Murder Case, and Mysterious Island. During the early 1930s, during the height of The Great Depression, showings at The Alameda Theatre continued to decline. Several small premieres happened at the theater during this time, including films such as Cohens and Kellys in Africa, Pilgrimage, Goodbye Again, One More River, and McKenna of the Mounted. By 1937, the business had changed its name to the 30th Avenue Theater. During that same year, the theater was showing the films Woman Chases Man and Tundra.

Overall, the 1930s proved to be a dismal decade for the business due to nationwide economic hardship. 

On the backdrop of the dismal economic conditions, African Americans saw further disenfranchisement in housing policy as a result of the Homeowners Loan Corporation (HOLC), a government-sponsored private real estate corporation formed in 1933. As a result of the HOLC, security maps were drawn up across 239 American cities to assess real estate risk levels along ethnicized and racialized lines. This policy became the impetus for redlining practices that would continue forcing African Americans out of buying homes in areas where they were considered a threat by private real estate agencies. As a result of these security maps, Alberta Street became redlined from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (formerly Union Avenue) to Northeast 30th Avenue. African Americans held a small but significant presence in the Portland area up until World War II, during which roughly 15,000 to 20,000 African Americans arrived to take part in work at the Kaiser shipyards. After World War II, Portland’s African American community continued to grow, eventually leading to the growth of the African American community in the Alberta Street area.

Moving into the 1940s, the newly formed 30th Avenue Theater began showing a variety of more films, including Alfred Hitchcock’s gothic horror classic Rebecca, as well as films such as Blondie on a Budget, Shine On Harvest Moon, Cowboy and the Senorita, Calamity Jane and Sam Bass, the Disney cartoon Saludos Amigos, and the Disney documentary Seal Island. Throughout the 1950s, the theater continued showing more movies, including films such as Singing Guns, Quicksand, Knights of the Round Table, Bear Country, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, and Istanbul. 

By the 1960s, Alberta Street had become home to several notable African American newspapers. These local Black-owned publications included The Clarion Defender at 1223 Northeast Alberta Street and the Oregon Advance Times at 714½ Northeast Alberta Street. The proliferation of Black-owned newspapers along Alberta Street showed one part of the increasing diversity present along Alberta Street.

Throughout the 1960s, the 30th Avenue Theater and Alberta Street more generally experienced a shift toward greater diversity, experimentation, and creativity. By 1962, the 30th Avenue Theater was undergoing minor changes as a result of new management, new decorations, and the incorporation of air conditioning. Continuing into the early 1960s, a variety of films were played on screen, including Thunder Road, Magnificent 7, and To Hell and Back. By 1965, the 30th Avenue Theater changed its name to Cine 30, while showcasing entertainment such as a sparsely-described special about renowned actor Lawrence Olivier. 

Additional changes came in 1967, during which Oregonian reporter Ted Mahar wrote several articles about the theater. By 1967 the theater had changed its name to the Applied Arts Theater and was serving as the site of several local operas and variety shows. The Applied Arts Theater was a short-lived venture started by local theater manager Bob Lindell sometime in early 1967. The theater itself played host to free showings of documentaries on notable painters such as Matisse, Picasso, Hogarth, and Rembrandt. Lindell was 23 when he opened the theater, which he initially called the Theater of the Applied Arts. During his time managing the theater, Lindell followed a non-monetary artistic policy of showcasing films he himself was interested in. Much of Lindell’s expenses were supplemented by his time as a machinery designer, a career he engaged in while attending Portland State College (now Portland State University). Lindell was previously associated with several local theaters, including Don Zavin’s Muses Theater and the Caffee Espresso. Lindell’s operation of the Applied Arts Theater came after a decision by the Urban Development Commission, which had moved him out of his previous downtown location at the Interplayers Theater. Lindell, in establishing the Applied Arts Theater, wanted to turn it into a center for avant-garde performances, including works such as No Exit, American Dream, and Bald Soprano. During his time as manager, Lindell incorporated niche showings of entertainment such as Japanese Kabuki Theater and a Russian film version of the Rimsky-Korsakov opera Sadko. 

After the short-lived ventures of Bob Lindell, the theater was renamed the Alameda by February of 1968, when they began showing films such as The Birds, Brides of Dracula, and King Kong v. Godzilla. The theater by that point was under the ownership of Harvey Garnett, Portland’s only Black theater owner. Garnett initially opened the Alameda alongside his friend Ron Leverett, even though both of them had little knowledge of the movie business. Previously, Garnett worked as a Pepsi salesman, while Leverett worked as a middle school teacher. In opening up the Alameda Theater together, both men sought the help of local cinema mogul Chuck Nakvasil to make the Alameda into a vibrant community theater. By mid-1968, the theater was showcasing a variety of films, including The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The theater, however, struggled to bring in larger audiences. After a short-lived stint helping Garnett, Leverett left the theater in 1969 to attend graduate school. Things shifted further after Christmas Day 1970 when the theater played a double feature of the blaxploitation crime comedy film Cotton Comes to Harlem as well as the African American coming-of-age film The Learning Tree. The showing was unlike anything Garnett had previously witnessed. In three days of showcasing the double feature, Garnett made more money than he had in the previous month. This dramatically shifted Garnett’s business practices to a focus on films made by and for African Americans. Eventually, Garnett would acquire the nickname "Mr. Alameda" for his time operating the theater. 

Throughout the 1970s, the Alameda Theater attracted a variety of Black and white audiences, during which Garnett witnessed little tension between patrons. Even though conditions were favorable among audience members, Garnett’s switch to Black pictures remained a point of risk, since film companies at the time preferred to grant booking rights to white owners and audiences. Garnett, as a result, had to fight extra hard to acquire booking rights that were seamless for other theater owners. Over time, Garnett’s reputation as a tough-minded businessman, as well as his overall business sense, helped maintain the theater as it became one of the only Black-owned theaters to showcase Black films in Portland and the greater State of Oregon. Ron Craig, a Portland native and current Executive Director of the Astoria International Film Festival, once remarked that the theater was a “social flashpoint” since the only other gathering points for African Americans were the local churches. Garnett, according to Willamette Week reporter Rebecca Jacobson, would sometimes cause patrons to spontaneously dance in the hallways when he played the music of Isaac Hayes, Quincy Jones, Marvin Gaye, and Jimmy McGriff over the speakers.

In the early 1970s, Garnett showcased a multitude of Blaxploitation and generally African American-focused films at the theater, including Uptight, Shaft, Superfly, The Landlord, Abby, Blacula, That Man Bolt, Book of Numbers, The Arena, Johnny Tough, Newman’s Law, and multiple showings of Melvin Van Peebles’ masterpiece Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. During Garnett’s time as manager, he was known to enforce strict rules against talking and smoking in the theater. If patrons were caught talking or smoking “grass,” he would give them two warnings before kicking them out of the theater. Carlton Jackson, a local Portland musician, remembered Garnett as “tough but fair,” and that the theater served as a “centering experience” for young moviegoers like himself to see persons of color on film. Garnett officially closed down the theater in 1975 as a result of problems stemming from his divorce. Jackson recounted the moment when Garnett closed the Alameda, saying, “there was a giant hole in the neighborhood entertainment options…it went the way of things that were happening in that day...he closed, and then people started buying up storefronts...all of a sudden I had to search elsewhere for movies that dealt with my people.” 

By the late 1970s, the theater served as a performance and entertainment space with multiple functions. In April of 1979 for instance, the theater served as a performance space for local rock bands such as Whinstone. The theater also served a variety of other entertainment functions, while remaining a hub of diversity and cinephilia. In reporting for The Oregonian, writer Don Hortsch described how the theater became a “cinematic melting pot” between 1975 and 1979. Asian-style kung fu action films such as Sabertooth Dragon v. The Firey Tiger mixed with showings of films with Black leads, such as Abar: The First Black Superman, Mahogany, and The Wiz. All the while, the theater attracted a wide range of Black, Asian, and white audiences. This remained the dominant business strategy of James Brannon, who purchased the theater after Garnett closed the business in 1975, renaming it the Alberta Theater. Brannon remarked to Hortsch that he was in the process of “experimenting” to see what films could attract a wide range of audiences. Brannon’s strategy paid off, particularly with the growth of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian audiences who came from all over Northeast Portland to see Asian kung fu films. Meanwhile, showing Black films in the theater attracted a continual audience of local Black residents from the surrounding neighborhood. As a result, the Alberta Theater served as a melting pot of diverse patrons who could enjoy the wide variety of representations present in the films being shown.

The theater itself was run by Brannon, who co-owned the theater alongside his mother, uncle, and aunt. While operating the theater business, Brannon continued his other career as a teacher at Beaumont Middle School. As a teacher, Brannon felt caught between the profitable violence-oriented Blaxploitation films depicted in his theater and the less profitable child-oriented matinees that the business occasionally dabbled in. 

By the 1980s, the theater had zero listings in the local papers, which is usually an indicator that the business has begun to falter or shut its doors. As it stands, little to no evidence in The Oregonian shows that a business continued in operation at 3000 Northeast Alberta during the 1980s. This may have been due to the proliferation of crime, drug wars, community disinvestment, and other neoliberal structural adjustments that gutted a multitude of economic opportunities for African Americans during the 1980s. By 1984, the City of Portland embarked on an ambitious citywide Historic Resource Survey, during which time a survey was performed on 3000 Northeast Alberta. One picture of the storefront from 1984 shows a slightly dismal scene in which the building storefronts were boarded up, the transoms were painted over, the marquee read “Alberta Theatre Closed,” and the cars outside the building include one 1970s vehicle with a noticeably large cavity in the back, possibly from a previous collision. While this picture may not have described the totality of circumstances in the local community, it does provide an example of how the neighborhood faced a multitude of trying challenges during the 1980s.   

By 1990, the theater saw a positive change when Robbin Mayfield decided to buy the property at 3000 Northeast Alberta. When Mayfield bought the building, many businesses along Alberta were closing or barring their windows due to rising crime. In time, Mayfield leased the theater to the Victory Outreach Church, which remained at the corner of 30th and Alberta for sometime between roughly 1990 and 2009. As part of the accommodations for the church, Mayfield offered reduced rent and remodeling materials while the church used their labor to fix up the building. Mayfield and the Victory Outreach Church subsequently rebuilt the furnace of the building, upgraded the lighting, and took part in cleaning, patching, and painting to fix up the property.

By 2006, Mayfield had already moved operations of the church to a larger facility, where he was assistant pastor. At the time, the property was worth roughly $320,000. This is a far cry from the building’s 2022 market value, which currently sits at $2,370,450 according to the City of Portland. This dramatic change in market value is a direct result of gentrification that proliferated across North and inner-Northeast Portland since the implementation of the Albina Community Plan in 1993. By 2006, Mayfield had told Erin Hoover Barnett of The Oregonian that the gentrification in the area was beginning to worry him since many Black families in the area were feeling ostracized. Despite his concerns about gentrification, Mayfield expressed that he felt pride in restoring the building at 3000 Northeast Alberta, knowing that the building would serve as a glimmer of hope. 

By the last Thursday in June of 2010, the Alberta Rose Theatre had officially opened with a commemorative performance by the local March Fourth Marching Band. Other local musicians also participated in the commemoration, including Chris Kokesh and Celilo. The theater came under the tenancy of Joe Cawley, who had a previous career as a musician, performer, and owner of several recycling companies such as Sunflower Recycling and Far-West Fibers. Cawley had worked with local musician and talent buyer Adam East to find a mid-size performance space for local artists. After coming under the tenancy of Cawley, the new Alberta Rose Theatre played host to the Oregon Public Broadcasting show LiveWire, as well as local live music performances and a variety of arthouse films. In response to the opening, the local Concordia Neighborhood was incredibly receptive and encouraging of the new business. Other local businesses participated in the opening ceremony, including Pacific Pie Company, Alma Chocolate, and Dovetail Bakery. Since 2010, the theater has emerged as one of Portland’s top venues for acoustic music, arthouse films, and live performances. From 2010 onward, many patrons from the local community came to the theater to enjoy performances of Chamber Music Northwest and Dolly Parton Hoot Night.   

Big changes came to the Alberta Rose Theatre in July of 2017, when longtime owner Robbin Mayfield decided to sell the building to tenant Joe Cawley. Shortly after the purchase was announced, Mayfield told The Portland Tribune that he was officially retiring. In tandem with the new ownership, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to help improve the building by raising $300,000 in funds. Additionally, the owners of the theater partnered with Premier Community Bank to acquire the funds necessary for the purchase. At the time of the purchase, the building was also occupied by four apartment tenants, as well as four businesses including Bristlecone Boutique, The Fix Hut, Barber Q, and Just Balloons. Mayfield, in talking with Portland Tribune reporter Olivia Sanchez, stated that when he bought the property in 1990 he had lived in one of the apartments above the theater and enjoyed fixing up the place and seeing the neighborhood grow. On the backdrop of the 2017 sale, Mayfield expressed further worries about the growing gentrification in the area, indicating that almost none of the new residents of the neighborhood had any empathy for the history of the area. Unlike the larger trends, Mayfield showed a soft spot for Cawley, whom he saw as a good tenant that appreciated the history of the area. Further support for the preservation of the building came from local radio host Phil Busse, as well as local business owner Gina Cadenasso. 

Today, the Alberta Rose Theatre remains one of the few theaters in Oregon historically tied with African American history and culture. Additionally, the business remains a landmark of Portland's music community, as well as a central performance space for a variety of Portland artists. Likewise, it is one of the few buildings left that showcase the work of architect Walter Kelly. However, the building has been subject to rapid changes in the Portland area as a result of gentrification. Moving forward, we should take this history as an example of the value we place on preservation and how every theater in Portland tells a deep, meaningful, and inspiring story. Likewise, we should be reminded that precious historic resources like the Alberta Rose Theatre, along with every other historically African American resource in Portland should be protected with the strongest possible support from the public. Buildings such as the Alberta Rose should serve as a reminder that gentrification is the direct result of deregulated market forces. If such deregulated market forces are left unchecked, it could lead to the destruction of community histories embodied by historically significant community gathering places such as the Alberta Rose Theatre.                          

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“Alameda Theatre.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Mar. 16, 1930: 44.

“Alameda Theatre.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Mar. 23, 1930: 44.

“Alberta Street Now Northeast Alberta Street.” In Ordinance No. 61325 Providing For Renumbering of Buildings and Renaming of Streets, 11. Auditor of the City of Portland. Portland, OR: Crane Direct Mail Service, 1933. 

“Cine 30 3000 NE Alberta.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), May 1, 1965: 11.

“Community Theatres Alameda 3000 NE Alberta.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Mar. 17, 1975: 25.

“Community Theatres Alameda 3000 NE Alberta.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Apr. 11, 1975: 43.

“Community Theatres Alameda 3000 NE Alberta.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Apr. 26, 1975: 8.

“Community Theatres Alameda 3000 NE Alberta.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), May 20, 1975: 30.

“Grand Opening of the Alameda Theatre.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), May 6, 1926: 9.

“‘King of Kings’ Synchronized.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Dec. 11, 1929: 6.

“Lacey’s Alameda Theatre.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Oct. 28, 1928: 12.

“Lacey’s Alameda Theatre.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Sept. 16, 1928: 50.

“Lacey’s Academy Theatre.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Sept. 30, 1928: 48.

“Lacey’s Alameda Theatre Double Feature.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Apr. 22, 1928: 48.

“Mrs. Lydia Buckman Dies.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), June 30, 1906: 14.

“Now Playing 3 Theatres Hotter Than Bond! Cooler Than Bullitt!” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), July 30, 1971: 41.

“Portland Population By Year.” Portland Oregon Population History 1890-2021. Portland. Oregon. U.S. BiggestUSCities online. Last updated May 27, 2022. Accessed May 30, 2022. https://www.biggestuscities.com/city/portland-oregon#byyear.

“Sweet Sweetback.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), October 9, 1971: 14.

“The Desert Song.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Nov. 17, 1929: 47.

“Thirtieth Avenue.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Aug. 11, 1940: 41.

“Tull Concert Scheduled.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), April 6, 1979: 84.