Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
After circling the marsh, the Bluff Trail runs smack into the Springwa-
ter Trail at Oaks Amusement Park. Here you'll find a roller-skating
rink, carnival rides, go-karts, bumper cars, and a well-worn collection
of midway entertainments. If you stop in, don't miss the hand-carved
wooden carousel from 1912.
Continue south along the Springwater Trail until you reach the tiny
Oaks Pioneer Church, at SE Spokane St. Born in 1851 as the St. Johns
Episcopal Church in Milwaukie (south of Sellwood), the little white
building moved twice before settling here. After 10 years it was scooted
closer to SE Main St. in Milwaukie. Then, in 1883, the church got a re-
model, adding its current stained-glass windows and steeple. In the
1950s it moved again, to SE Jefferson St. in Milwaukie, where it served
as a Sunday-school annex to a larger church building and suffered the
indignity of having linoleum floors installed. But its big adventure came
in the 1960s, when it was spared from demolition and instead loaded
onto a barge and shipped up the Willamette River to its current home,
where (linoleum-free) it's a popular spot for weddings and funerals.
Walk up the hill along SE Spokane St. until you reach SE 13th Ave.
Gino's, on the corner, is a beautiful old family-style Italian restaurant
with a lovely bar, if you're in need of sustenance. Otherwise, turn left
and continue along 13th Ave. into the heart of Sellwood.
SE 13th Ave. is Sellwood's “Antique Row,” lined with antiques shops
(though these days they battle for space with new restaurants and coffee
shops). There's a pretty good range of inventory, from high-end and
rare items to cardboard boxes full of broken Legos and one-legged baby
dolls. A longstanding favorite is The Raven, between SE Miller and
Lexington Sts., with appealingly curmudgeonly staff and an emphasis
on old military and maritime gear.
A block farther, at SE Bidwell St., is the Sellwood-Moreland branch of
the Multnomah County Library. Started in 1905 as the Sellwood Read-
ing Room with 100 books, in a small building on Nehalem St., the lib-
rary moved into this successful experiment in mixed-use architecture in
2002. The building also contains commercial space and 16 condomini-
ums.
Continue along SE 13th Ave. until it rounds a bend and, at SE 14th
Ave., becomes SE Bybee Blvd. Here you can also peek into the pretty
grounds of the somewhat-less-creepy Memorial Funeral Home. Follow
