A very authoritative man at the Basement Pub: 

"No, no. Gresham is north of Portland."

The truth: Gresham is not north of Portland.

Misunderstood: Steel Bridge

On MAX crossing the river. 


Mom to daughter: "Oh, isn't this the bridge we rode our bikes over?"


Daughter: "No, we didn't go over this bridge. We rode over the Steel Bridge."


The truth: There is only one bridge that takes the MAX over the river, and that is this one.

Misunderstood: the White Eagle Saloon

"This place used to be a brothel! And! It has a ghost! It's the ghost of an old prostitute! And it scares the staff and no one wants to go in the basement and it's so scary that they won't let you stay upstairs even if you pay them!" - Half of Portland, breathlessly, at one point or another.


The truth: Eh, it's probably all completely true, right? You can probably find out more about it at this free event happening tonight at 7pm at the Kennedy School...

Misunderstood: Witch's Castle

"Witches Castle in Forest Park. It's not the damn ranger's house, it's a derelict public crapper." - James Mazzocco

The truth: James is right. On a related note, if you google "witch's castle forest park" you'll find many, many more examples of Witch's Castle being misunderstood. (Trading post from the 1600s!)

Misunderstood: Captain Couch

"Yeah, it's called 'Cooch' Street, not 'Couch' Street. It's named after this guy Captain Cooch. They called him that because he molested a bunch of little kids." - Some know-it-all on the streetcar, circa 2006. [So if they called him Captain "Cooch", why did they name the street "Couch"?]


The truth: Captain Couch was a pretty cool dude. History does not provide any evidence of him molesting children.

Misunderstood: Ladd's Addition had a Castle

When I first moved to town in 2000, I was fascinated with Ladd's Addition. I spent a few months believing - I have no clue how I came to this idea - that there had originally been a castle or a fort or an outpost that had existed in the middle of Ladd's Circle. I thought that Ladd's Addition had been built around whatever structure had been in the middle of Ladd's Circle.

The truth: Ladd's Addition is a residential neighborhood designed by William S. Ladd. There was never a castle in the middle of Ladd's Circle.