West

Encouraged by the initial success of his American Basketball Association (ABA), which challenged the National Basketball Association (NBA), Gary Davidson and his cohorts turned their attention to hockey. On November 1, 1971, Davidson announced the formation of the World Hockey Association (WHA) to challenge...

Steve Crane was an actor turned restaurateur. After opening the highly successful Luau restaurant in Beverly Hills in the late 1940s, he started the Kon Tiki chain in 1958. Most of these were located inside Sheraton hotels.

Known as "The Wonderland of the Pacific Northwest" Lotus Isle amusement park opened in the summer of 1930 on Hayden Island. After a roller coaster accident and the suicide of the park's owner, it closed in 1932.

When the Portland Storm folded at the conclusion of the 1974 World Football League (WFL) season, the prospects for pro football in Bridgetown looked bleak. However, Portland returned to the league the following season with a new team, the Thunder, and a new owner....

The Portland Storm played in the World Football League (WFL) in 1974. Playing their home games at old Civic Stadium, the Storm finished with 7 wins, 12 losses, and 1 tie. The GM was former AFL great Ron Mix, and the head coach was...

The Continental Football League (COFL) formed in 1965 with hopes of achieving a status approaching that of the NFL and AFL. The CFL played primarily in Eastern cities not served by the other two leagues. However, by its second season, it focused on becoming...

The World Football League (WFL) kicked off in July of 1974 as a rival to the established National Football League (NFL). At first, it seemed like it would be a serious rival to the NFL. After all, league founder Gary Davidson had already formed...

Burger Chef was a fast-food hamburger chain that started in Indianapolis in 1958. At its peak in the mid 1970s, it was second only to McDonald's in the number of nationwide locations. The chain even made inroads into Canada. In 1982, the chain was sold...

The Willamette River flows through Portland spanned by a dozen bridges, which give it the nickname "Bridgetown."

Rip City is one of several nicknames for Portland. It was coined in 1971 by Bill "The Schnoz" Schonely who was the play-by-play broadcaster for the city's NBA team, the Portland Trail Blazers in 1971. The term, in only its second season, was close...

The original American Basketball Association (ABA) was founded in 1967 as a challenger to the established NBA. After fierce competition between the two for fans and players, 4 ABA teams were absorbed by the NBA in 1976. The Kentucky Colonels, the league's most successful...

Sunset Bowl opened in 1957 in Ballard and soon became a local hotspot. Sunset It closed in 2008 and was demolished in 2010.

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Ernst Home Centers was a chain of home improvement stores founded in 1893 in Seattle by brothers Charles and Fred Ernst. At its peak it boasted over 95 stores in nine states. It filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and was liquidated in 1997.

The building that housed the Off Ramp Cafe was built in 1908 and was home to a variety of shops until the 1950s when a successive string of muisc clubs occupied the space. In 1986 it began booking alternative rock acts as the Off...

The Chubby and Tubby variety store began in 1947 in a metal hut. It grew into a South Seattle institution but closed in 2003.

Cellophane Square was a famous record store in Seattle's University District that opened in the early 1970s. It closed in 2009.

Sambo's was a chain of sit-down restaurants that at its peak had over 1,100 locations in 47 states.

The Red and Black Cafe??was a radical safer space??cafe??and worker-managed collective??in Portland from 2000 to 2015. It served an all-vegan??menu and hosted community-based events.