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NR Nomination
Inventory Form
Inventory Document

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:720 SW Washington St historic name:Morgan Building
Portland, Multnomah County (97205) current/other names:Rainbow Grille; Jolly Joan's Restaurant; Morgan Alley
assoc addresses:127 Broadway; 515 SW Broadway
block/lot/tax lot:213 / 1,2,7,8 / 6600
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:1N 1E 34 SW/SW
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):8.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1913 second date:1938 date indiv listed:09/12/1996
primary orig use: Business orig use comments:
second orig use:
primary style: Beaux Arts prim style comments:
secondary style: Commercial (Type) sec style comments:
primary siding: Brick:Other/Undefined siding comments:
secondary siding: Terra Cotta: Other/Undefined
plan type: 3-Part Vertical Block architect:Doyle, Patterson & Beach
builder:
comments/notes:
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Portland Downtown Glazed Terra Cotta Buildings Thematic Grouping 1980
   Portland LGBTQ+ Historic Resources 2024 RLS Survey & Inventory Project 2024
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: 09/12/1996
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 05/25/2023
Gen file date: 10/28/2015
Special Assessment
Status Term End Yr
Closed 1st  2011
106 Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
720 SW Washington is an eight-story Beaux Arts and 20th Century Commercial style building oriented east-west on the northern half of the block. The building’s roof is flat with a parapet and large eaves with brackets. The building has a concrete foundation and is clad in brick and terracotta with a granite base. The windows appear to be original one-over-one wood single-hung. There are multiple building entrances, including through Morgan Alley on the east façade. Morgan Alley has a metal screen with gold lettering and lion faces.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The Morgan Building housed two LGBTQ+-friendly restaurants in its ground floor commercial space in the early- and mid-20th century. First, Theodore Kruse opened The Rainbow Grille in 1913. This was Kruse’s second restaurant, following his previous restaurant’s closure in connection to the 1912 network of Portland men engaging in same-sex sexual activities referred to as the “Vice Clique” scandal. The scandal led to legal and social persecution of several men and associated various businesses like Kruse’s with “immorality.” The Rainbow Grille failed to move beyond such association and gain financial stability, ceasing operation in 1915. In 1937, the 24-hour restaurant Jolly Joan's opened in the ground floor commercial space addressed at 515 SW Broadway, having outgrown its previous location. Although not an LGBTQ+ exclusive restaurant, Jolly Joan was a welcoming place for LGBTQ+ Portlanders until its closure in the early 1960s. Individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C, the Morgan Building is also potentially significant under Criterion A in the area of LGBTQ+ history for its association with early LGBTQ+-serving restaurants.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society:Oregon Queer History Collective Other Respository:Umbrella Project
Bibliography:
ADDITIONAL SOURCES FOR PORTLAND LGBTQ+ HISTORIC RESOURCES 2024: Cook, Tom, and George Painter. “1999 Portland Gay History Walking Tour.” Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. https://www.glapn.org/6045walkingtour.html. Painter, George. "The Louvre Restaurant." Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. https://www.glapn.org/6080louvre.html. "Rainbow Grill is Open." The Morning Oregonian, October 3, 1913. "Rainbow Grill Outdoes Nature in its Decorative Beauties." The Morning Oregonian, October 5, 1913. "Rainbow Grill Closes." Oregonian, June 15, 1915. "Grill Owes $79,000." Oregonian, June 17, 1915. Anderson, Heather. "A City Scandalized." Portland Mercury, January 10, 2018. https://www.portlandmercury.com/history/2018/01/10/19597137/a-city-scandalized. Horn, Don. "Jolly Joan's Restaurant." Bars, Restaurants, & Taverns. The Umbrella Project.https://www.umbrellaprojectoregon.com/jolly-joans.