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History of the Standard Dairy
28 May 1873: The main town site plat of Albina was filed. It was initially developed by Edwin Russell and George H. Williams. The original commercial core of this new town was established around Williams Avenue & Russell Street. (most of destroyed in 1970).
29 April 1882: Most of the blocks of Albina along Union Avenue between Rodney & N.E. 7th were rededicated by James B. Montgomery, who previously purchased the undeveloped blocks, and opened them up for sale.
14 August 1941: The Farmers Dairy Association filed a building permit with the City of Portland for construction of a new building at the northeast corner of Union & Graham. The initial estimated cost was $42,000 and Bickford Construction Co. was the general contractor. The plans for the building were drawn up in June 1941 by Ray G. Clifford, Architect, and survived on microfilm archives at the Portland Permit Center. The creamery was previously near the corner of N Vancouver & Russell.
Several existing buildings were to be removed for this new creamery building. Since the 1920s, the Blue Cross Dog & Cat Hospital was at 2850 NE Union. A photograph from 1929 of that building survived in the Oregon History Center photo archives done by the city, documenting the proposed widening of Union Avenue. Also, for several decades, Ione Market, a grocery store, stood at 2861 NE Union.
31 October 1941: The new structure was completed with all of the improvements checked by the inspector. The company started operation in the new building. John Mellema was the manager for the creamery.Today, his younger brother, Lewis Mellema, lives in Portland and has memories of that operation. He also has a photograph of the building with company trucks lined up out in front.
5 September 1945: A permit was filed for extending the cold and freezing rooms.
26 February 1946: A permit was filed for an addition to be built on the building at an estimated cost of $35,000. E. F. Balgemann was the general contractor for that project. This is probably the block-styled extension that used to be on the north side of the building. A boiler house was also added that year. Another addition was put on in 1947.
4 August 1952: A permit was files with the city for another addition to the building at an estimated cost of $8,500.
29 February 1960: A permit was filed for a major remodeling of the building at an estimated cost of $18,000. More storage area was included in the rear not allowing vehicles to be stored there.
26 April 1965: An incinerator was added outside the building.
4 January 1967: A permit was filed to remodel the restaurant area into the office space.
6 December 1967: The name of the company was changed to Standard Dairy and operated by new management at this time. A permit was filed for a cooler, storage addition, and a new loading dock at a cost of $28,000. Later directories list Norman Tolleshaug as the president and John Tolleshaug as secretary-treasurer. Their names are not in telephone directories.
1984: The dairy shut down probably due to declining business during the previous 10 years. No investments were made on the property from the late 1960s until recently. The 1985 directory lists the building vacant, remaining so for several years. Bill Reed purchased the building in 1988. In 1992, a variety of new businesses occupied the building including MBL Documents.
1998: The pink Dairy building was demolished, leaving only the curved brick facade.
13 April 2000 The "new" Standard Dairy opens with a ribbon cutting ceremony with Gov. John Kitzhaber. The building features "Billy Reed's Restaurant", a laundrimat/convenience store, 15 retail shops, and 31 apartments. The building is fully occupied even before the Grand Opening, and wins an award for livability.
