2351.
Rossi Farms is a working farm on NE 122nd Avenue at Shaver Street. At one time, it was a few miles out in the country. Those times have changed, needless to say.
The farmhouses left on the Rossi property, in the 3800 block of NE 122nd Avenue, are in sight of the I-84 122nd Avenue overpass, a very large K-Mart, a few gas stations, a state liquor store, and Parkrose High School.
NE 122nd Avenue is a very wide street with five full traffic lanes and traffic that, at times, approaches freeway dangerousness. And it goes right through the Rossi property, with about 3/4ths to the east of it and 1/4th to the west. All along the north side of the property runs Shaver Street.
The Washington Cascade foothills are visible from the place, and on cold mornings when there are low-hanging clouds, the effect is a little bit etherial.
Rossi Farms have been around since 1860. Its neighbor to the northwest, Parkrose High School, hasn't been there quite that long.
Most farms I know have aren't embedded in urban neighborhoods, but if it was, Parkrose would be the appropriate one.
4000 block. Two perfect miles north of Burnside.
Mount Hood is prominently visible from the corner of NE 122nd and Shaver, and it makes a fitting backdrop.
Anyone who doubts that the Rossi Farm is still a working farm need only note the trucks and shipping pallets on the north side of the very-farm-looking barn there. I don't know what produce they grow there, but they do grow produce.
The Rossi Farms logo combines the country and the city. They know what they have here – an original, Portland-quirky, charming gem in the east of the city.
It's not the country any more – it's the suburbs. But still the farm survives.
… and it's very convenient to the freeway. Thoroughly modern.
With the rising sun washing out some of the urban details you can maybe still daydream about what the surroundings might have been like if they were still all country and fields.
If you want to feel like a country mouse for a few minutes, the Rossi Farms is a good place to go by. They even have a faux-Western village and stage events occasionally.
- For Large-Size Looks at these pics: http://zehnkatzen.posterous.com/out-122nd-way-driving-by-rossi-farms
- Rossi Farms on Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&q=Rossi+Farms&fb=1&near=Portland,+OR&ei=tY-fS8W0DpTcjAOcvuGGDQ&ved=0CE4QpQY&view=map&cid=6547033102495589158&ll=45.550662,-122.536569&spn=0.009782,0.014956&t=h&z=16
4 comments:
Nicely done. I pass by those sites quite regularly, and yet there's something enchanting about seeing them here.
Just stopping and smelling the roses, is what I'm doing.
I also have an abiding love for 122nd Avenue. More pictures and commentary to come. It's amazing what you see there when you make the time to stop and look.
Amazingly, Rossi Farms doesn't have a website. Isn't that strange?
The Rossi land is actually rented out to whoever is farming it now. The Rossi family had been farming and selling produce out of the barn there, but they closed down a couple of years ago and rented just the land to someone else. Hence, no website.
That's interesting to find out. Thanks for the extra information.
I had heard that they were changing their involvment in it somehow but couldn't track down the news articles where such things were mentioned.
The tenants are, I'm guessing, not planning on running any events or anything like that, or if they are, just publicise them before they happen.
Once again, thanks for the insight. Seriously appreciated.
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