Pine Street Coffee House 1895-1939
by Julie Crossley
Portland, OR
One of our Swiss ancestors came to Oregon in the late 1800s, ran the Pine Street Coffee House for years, and his house is still standing on SW 1st Avenue and is on the National Historic Register. I had a vague memory of seeing a menu from the coffee house somewhere in my mother’s “pioneer chest” I inherited. So I dug and came up with a 22 page publication written by my grandfather’s uncle, Johan Gottlieb Haelen in 1914, “Historical Sketch of the Pine Street Coffee House.” This delightful little book includes pictures and the early history of the city of Portland as well as the story of the coffee house.
“Got” (as he was known) was born in Lenk, Switzerland, and came to Portland in 1883 via San Francisco. He and his brother opened the Knickerbocker coffee house on SW Washington at 4th Avenue. In 1895, for $700 they bought the Pine Street Coffee House on NW Pine near 1st Avenue on the pier over the Willamette River before the seawall was built. People came from all over town for his German pancakes, waffles or for ham and eggs… soon it became known as the “millionaire’s club.” The original structure was torn down in 1914 and the new location at 226 Pine Street thrived under Got’s direction until its 44th anniversary in 1939. The restaurant became a family affair. Four of his nephews worked there along with his brother-in-law, my great grandfather.
Got was an expert yodeler in his youth in Switzerland and directed church choirs in Portland. I remember my grandfather and his brothers sitting around our kitchen table yodeling.
