Sign in

Val C. Ballestrem

@pdxhistorian.bsky.social
69 followers 86 following 86 posts

History, architecture, Red Sox, cats, cooking. Author of Lost Portland, Oregon (2018) and avid Vote by Mail user.

PostsRepliesMedia
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
pretty embarrassing @redsox.com #mlb
000
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It's been a long, tough week, but I did find out today that the Milwaukie City Hall National Register of Historic Places nomination I worked on this past year was accepted by the National Park Service and it's now listed!
261
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 09/09/2026
Not to brag, but our product has been foldable since 1828.
142135222193
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Historic Centennial Mills Building burns 😞https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2026/08/vacant-warehouse-ablaze-in-portland-firefighters-say.html
oregonlive.com
Vacant warehouse ablaze in Northwest Portland
The building’s on Naito Parkway near the Fremont bridge.
000
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 13/06/2026
Folarin Balogun, born in New York to Nigerian parents. People like JD Vance would say he's not *really* American when, in fact, he's the epitome of American. 🇺🇸
383130594
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
I know management doesn't care what I think, but @redsox.com this AAAA team is an utter embarrassment. You know the issues and pretend they will just fix themselves. No need to trade for a "big bat" at this point, but maybe a new CBO is in order.
000
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Fwiw www.army.mil/article/2104...
army.mil
Worldwide flu outbreak killed 45,000 American Soldiers during World War I
In September 1918 there were two killers in the world. World War I, which would claim 20 million lives by its end, and the flu pandemic known as the Spanish Flu, is estimated to have killed between at...
130
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Portland Streetcar History @pdx-streetcars.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
This 1890s photo of Portland keeps showing up and people keep arguing about where it was taken from, despite some very obvious clues in the photo. So I did what any sane and reasonable person would do and triangulated landmarks to prove things once and for all.
3436
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Happy to say that the Milwaukie City Hall National Register of Historic Places nomination I've been working on for the past year or so, is up for review in June! If you want to read it, here's the pdf: www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Docu...
Photo of the former Milwaukie City Hall in early 2026
052
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Joe Streckert @joestreckert.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Portland almost demolished a good chunk of Southeast for a freeway. Almost! I wrote a bit about the never-constructed Mount Hood Freeway for the @portlandmercury.com Transportation Issue.
portlandmercury.com
The Highway That Never Was  - Portland Mercury
[What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury‘s 2026 Transportation issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds.] Over fifty years ago, a freeway almost destroyed a large […]
58419
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Recently had the opportunity to talk about one of my favorite topics, the Mt Hood Freeway. www.portlandmercury.com/transportati...
portlandmercury.com
The Highway That Never Was  - Portland Mercury
[What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury‘s 2026 Transportation issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds.] Over fifty years ago, a freeway almost destroyed a large […]
020
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
We won't last 33 more months of this. This must stop. We must make it stop.
1009216245520
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Not as old as the website, but 14 years and still looks "peepy"
020
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
It is risen! My 14 year old Peep, that is.
14 year old yellow Peep candy in a museum display cube.
021
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
This is an actual post. This is not funny. This is beyond desperate. This is a deeply unwell man who doesn’t belong anywhere near the levers of power. Every member of his cabinet and Congress is complicit in not demanding his removal now.
25153838511480
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
I hear it's mostly in the Oval Office
020
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield @agdanrayfield.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Read our statement on today’s executive order limiting vote by mail. #orpol
“Oregonians have been voting by mail for decades. It’s safe and secure. Even the president does it. Vote by mail increases access to the ballot which is a cornerstone to our democracy, and we’ll use every legal tool available to us to fight this and protect Oregonians’ right to vote.”
14466133
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Will it work? I don’t know. But it is certainly better than preemptively conceding ground to the Right’s claims that they deserve disproportionate power as representatives of “the people.” It’s time for (small-d) democrats to assert their right to define what “real America” should be going forward.
313517
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
No Kings! No kakistocracy! www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...
mobilize.us
No Kings-Power to the People in Milwaukie · No Kings
**We have the power and are claiming it together. No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.** What began in 2025 as a single day of defiance has become a sustained national resistance to tyranny, spreading fr...
010
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
"Gushing blood...USA! USA! .... stabbed...USA!USA!.... bodies...USA! USA!...." WTF?! WTF?!
010
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Vote by mail in Oregon has made it possible for more citizens to vote, including those in the most rural (and right leaning) places in the state. SAVE Act supporters can F right off.
010
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
"Be as wise as my Grandmama." The New York Times obituary for Jesse Jackson concludes with these stirring words from his 1988 "Keep Hope Alive" speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention.
At one point in that speech he told a story about his grandmother in Greenville. She could not afford a blanket, he said, but she did not complain, and the family did not freeze. Instead, she took pieces of old cloth — patches of wool, silk, gabardine, croker sack — “only patches, barely good enough to wipe off your shoes with,” and she sewed them together into a quilt, “a thing of beauty and power and culture.” He implored Democrats to build such a quilt.

“Be as wise as my grandmama,” he said. “Pull the patches and the pieces together, bound by a common thread. When we form a great quilt of unity and common ground, we’ll have the power to bring about health care and housing and jobs and education and hope to our nation. We, the people, can win.”
515940
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Democracy is when voters choose their leaders. Autocracy is when leaders choose their voters.
28193933360
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Sad to see them go. 😔
010
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Portland Streetcar History @pdx-streetcars.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Outside of a very few designated stations with facilities like ticket offices and freight handling, the passenger facilities at most PRL&P interurban stops were very spartan, as this view of the waiting shed at Stanley in 1946 shows.
2131
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
John Cusack @johncusack.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
21697277
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Memorial Coliseum Book @memcoliseumbook.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
I’ve reviewed proofs and the book is headed to the printer! Building Portland’s Memorial Coliseum: a Mid-Century Political Firestorm is due out to the public in April. Cover sneak peak coming next month…
053
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Thomas [DARK MODE], DO @tom.medsky.social · 27/01/2026
Downfall Bovino Edition. You're welcome.
913188446202
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune
6746268
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
A little project I'm working on, coming up on January 28th! oregonblackpioneers.org/black-histor...
oregonblackpioneers.org
Black History Quest: The Enterprise Investment Company - Oregon Black Pioneers
This episode of Black History Quest will discuss how the Enterprise Investment Company impacted Portland's Black community.
022
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
A nice story in the latest Oregon Humanities magazine about Portland freeways for which I was interviewed. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
oregonhumanities.org
On Tender Systems
An essay by Dawn Marie Knopf about the history of the US highway system, the costs of its creation, and conflicts over freeway expansion in Portland
021
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Zira for the timeline cleanse. Happy Friday!
Closeup of a cat
050
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
No Kings!
Hellfire Club Portland T-shirt
061
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
No Kings. - Portland, OR this Saturday 10/18. Portland Indivisible and 50501. We Say NO KINGS! · No Kings share.google/0Y0WMKsGKD0t...
share.google
Portland Indivisible and 50501. We Say NO KINGS! · No Kings
**In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings. And here in Oregon, we say No Military Takeover of Our Communities.** Our event - Portland Indivisible and 50501. We Say NO KINGS! https://www.mobil...
000
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
With all this talk about Portland and plywood, this ad seemed oddly fitting.😀 Oregonian 9/25/1966
1966 newspaper advertisement for Mr Plywood in Portland, Oregon
010
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 10/10/2025
We’re eight days away from No Kings Day, and we have 2,500 protests planned in all 50 states and across the world. October 18 is going to be the biggest day of nonviolent protest in US history — and we want to see you there. Find your local event: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings
22648266
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
This piece is just an essential, important and excellent intervention as Coates' Vanity Fair essay was. One NYT column isn't that important, but an accommodationist mindset has spread in center-left elite circles. And it should be rejected forcefully. democracyamericana.com/posts/c5d024...
democracyamericana.com
Where Is the Line?
On Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the struggle to define the boundaries of what is acceptable in America
19663153
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
April Henry @aprilhenry.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
My neighborhood today.
21944153
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Memorial Coliseum Book @memcoliseumbook.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Seventy (70) years ago today Portland’s Exposition-Recreation Commission selected Delta Park as the site for what we now know as Memorial Coliseum. My book on the site selection process will be out in the spring. Until then, here’s a primer I wrote back in 2017. mikeaorr.medium.com/portland-mem...
142
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Sales for Hellfire Club tees ought to be going through the roof Portland! www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
021
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 30/09/2025
IT’S OFFICIAL: We now have more protests planned for October 18 than there were back in June. It’s not even October yet but you’ve already put 2,100 events on the No Kings map. We hope to see you at the largest day of peaceful protest in American history: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings
(next to a map of the 2,100 peaceful protests planned for October 18) NO THRONES.
NO CROWNS.
NO KINGS.
SATURDAY, OCT. 18
421007460
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Said goodbye to dear sweet Clio tonight after 10 wonderful years. 😪
100
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Tina Kotek @tinakotek.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
There is no insurrection. There is no threat to national security. There is no need or legal justification for military troops in our major city. www.klcc.org/politics-gov...
2020376
Val C. Ballestrem @pdxhistorian.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Thanks to all the folks from around the country speaking out in support of Portland. Out here on the front lines, the most dangerous place might be the Goodwill bins.
010
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Jesus Christ, how are you so unbelievably bad at this? A deeply unpopular president is recklessly destroying our government, wrecking our democracy, covering up pedophilia and now threatening to use military force against our own citizens but you're tsk-tsking about protecting healthcare?
28463901233
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Leah Sottile @leahsottile.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
I encourage all the media outlets who are about to send people to ”war ravaged” Portland to think twice. Some of the strongest extremism reporters in the country live in this region; journalists who understand the culture of the Northwest and the history of activism here. Do it right this time okay?
402025466
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Tina Kotek @tinakotek.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
My office is reaching out to the White House and Homeland Security for more information. We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm.
115960388
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 27/09/2025
Taken just a few minutes ago outside the ICE facility in Portland that Trump claims is under siege. My message to Donald Trump is this: we don’t need you here. Stay the hell out of our city.
501129874936
Reposted by Val C. Ballestrem
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
I hear the President has decreed that it is possibly a crime to refer to Americans as "fascists," but "fascism" is a word that has a relatively clear meaning that's worth understanding. Here's how an official publication of the US Army defined "fascism" in 1945.
4224201027