ERICKSON’S: The History of Portland’s Greatest Saloon

PATREON: www.patreon.com/exploreoregon This one has been a long time coming, as well as a history I have touched on from time to time in other videos. It's the story of Portland, Oregon's most popular saloon during its earlier years, a place that boasted itself as the best saloon on the west coast with the longest bar in the world. Nestled in the rough and tumble North End of the city, Erickson's was a place where you could have a good time and experience various forms of entertainment while also being a place where you could engage in an assortment of things that might get you arrested. In this film I take a mostly linear look at the history of Erickson's Saloon, established by a troubled showman named August Erickson who promised the people of Portland the best when he first established his place. I will discuss the lore that kept the place alive, it's appearance, it's brushes with crime and, of course, the owners it had during its earlier years. The focus of this history, despite the fact that Erickson's existed until 1980, with be during those pre-Prohibition years (mainly 1889 to 1916).