Gresham Transfer Truck on Main Avenue
1922-1928
Gresham, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States
Large flatbed truck loaded with barrels covered by a tarp. A sign attached below the truck bed reads "Gresham Transfer & Storage Co." The truck is parked in a large paved area. There is a hardware store sign down the street and a power pole in the distance. Looking north on Main Ave. The Congdon Hotel is on the left. In the distance on the right is the Gresham Masonic Hall which became Amiton Furniture.. People identified: Walrad, Burton
More about this item
- Description
- Large flatbed truck loaded with barrels covered by a tarp. A sign attached below the truck bed reads "Gresham Transfer & Storage Co." The truck is parked in a large paved area. There is a hardware store sign down the street and a power pole in the distance. Looking north on Main Ave. The Congdon Hotel is on the left. In the distance on the right is the Gresham Masonic Hall which became Amiton Furniture.. People identified: Walrad, Burton
- Provenance
- Burton Walrad was born in 1902 and moved with his parents to Gresham in 1912. They purchased a mercantile store on Main and 1st Street that became Walrad Mercantile. Burton graduated from Gresham Union High School in 1921 and started his first business, Gresham Transfer Co., in 1922. He drove his delivery truck locally all day and made all-night deliveries to The Dalles, sleeping in the truck while it was unloaded and wetting his shirt in the creek to stay awake. His next venture, Walrad Insurance, remained in business from 1928 until his retirement 50 years later. In 1931, he became the first president of the new Gresham Chamber of Commerce and was instrumental in bringing a new bank to Gresham after both of the town’s previous banks had failed in the stock market crash. He became known for charitable giving and investment in civic improvement, purchasing the Gresham Fire Department its first fire truck. Burton and LaVerne had no children. Burton died in 1990 and LaVerne in 2001. Their friend and neighbor David Widmark donated the photos after their deaths.
- Date
- 1922-1928
- Subject
- Photographs
- Trucks
- Location
- Gresham, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States
- Rights
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
- Identifier
- ghs20010330014
- Contributor
- Gresham Historical Society
- Extent
- Print, Photographic
- Type
- StillImage
