At the start of the Twentieth Century, there was much that was new in the Sellwood community – especially along what is now 17th Street, from Tacoma south to Clatsop. An influx of working-class men was occurring in the Town of Sellwood, some of them hiring on with local merchants, and others being employed by the Eastside Railway Company, which had opened in 1893.

The population of this briefly-independent little city had grown so much, so fast, that its residents voted to ask that Sellwood be absorbed into Portland, so they could have a good sewer system, clean drinking water, a paid fire department, and paved streets and sidewalks. So it was that Sellwood became just one of the many neighborhoods of the Rose City officially in 1893.

Many of these new working men were attracted to Willsburg, situated just to the east of Sellwood, where there were a furniture factory, a sawmill, and a brick factory. The Willsburg sawmill and brick factory were supplying residential homes and business with building materials for the outside of their structures, while the Schindler Furniture Factory was offering household needs like dining tables, chairs, sofas, bedsteads, and writing desks for the inside of their dwellings. It seemed to many, on the east side of Portland, that Willsburg was establishing itself as a manufacturing hub for workers.

Commuting to work at Willsburg could be a long journey for some; those who lived in the City of Milwaukie, or even along Umatilla Street or 13th Avenue in Sellwood, usually had to get there and go home on foot. As a result, small bungalows and cottages began appearing on both sides of 17th Street, where real estate was more affordable. As traffic began to increase, and more workers and families started settling in this part of Sellwood, the result was a new commercial district slowly evolving.

By the early 1900s, a handful of merchants and shops that catered to the working class began opening on the east side of Sellwood, along with a few houses set back from the road. Jacob Kober’s Home Saloon at the intersection of S.E. Umatilla and 17th drew men from the Shindler Furniture Factory in Willsburg to spend an evening of spirits, music, and camaraderie. During the summer, spectators who spent a wild day watching the sporting events at the City View Race Track at S.E. 7th and Malden could often later be found across the street at Jules Rostian’s Saloon.

The St. Charles Hotel on 17th Avenue, later named the Sellwood Hotel, offered lodging for late-night celebrators, as well as temporary boarding for new arrivals hoping to get a job at one of the businesses in Sellwood and Willsburg. Other stores nearby included Johnson’s Feed and Hay, a blacksmith’s forge, and a bakery.

Traffic was particularly brisk along Tacoma Street, where farmers and residents traveled down to the Willamette River to ship out goods and products to sell on Portland’s downtown waterfront. The Sellwood Ferry Landing was the fastest way to transport goods or pick up supplies sent to Willsburg. A look at a Sanborn Map in 1907 reveals many homes that probably housed blue collar workers grouped along Tacoma Avenue. Seventh Street was just as busy, and offered an efficient route to the town of Milwaukie for commuters.

It was about this time that Robert G. Welch and Oliver Applegate, both teamsters delivering goods around the city, appeared in Sellwood, and decided that the community needed a general store. Combining their funds they built a small grocery store on the southeast corner of 17th and Tacoma. The Welch and Applegate Grocery Store sought to save residents on the east side of the neighborhood from having to walk way down to the commercial section of Sellwood on Umatilla Street or having to experience the mile and a half trudge to Milwaukie.

Both men arrived in Portland in different circumstances. Robert and his wife Sarah, along with his son Robert Junior, arrived in Portland in the 1890s by way of Missouri. Starting out as a teamster for the Thomson Brothers of Mt. Hood, the elder Welch worked his way up the ladder, being promoted to superintendent of the company.

As for his partner, Oliver Applegate was born in Indiana, and eventually moved to Portland to work briefly as a bartender – as is reported in the 1900 U.S. Census. Applegate seemed to be more comfortable perched on a driver’s seat, leading a team of draft animals, than in bartending, though – because his occupation as teamster was subsequently listed for many years in City of Portland directories.

But, by 1901, as mentioned, both men were concentrating on taking orders and delivering groceries from their own business, the Welch and Applegate Grocery Store on 17th Street. This wasn’t your typical small-scale mom and pop run market, either. Their grocery store employed five clerks, with at least two women working also, probably as cashier and as a clerk – as is suggested by an early photo of the staff.

The men did the heavy loading and stacking of goods and supplies, and also drove the three delivery wagons that carried groceries to neighboring households. Boys were hired as part-time workers to canvass the outlying area by horse and buggy, taking orders. By noon they would turn and return to the store, load up the delivery van with the goods they had orders for, and then would be back on the road with their two-team delivery wagon.

A drayage and storage stable were located next door, to shelter the horses and store the delivery wagons for the Welch and Applegate Grocery Store.

The store sold teas, coffee, spices, extracts, canned goods, as well as fruits and vegetables when they were in season, and also animal feed. Coffee and tea seemed to be the specialty of the house: In 1911 the Oak Grove Girls Band was invited by Bob Welch to entertain the crowd while he offered a coffee demonstration at his store.

Country stores have always been known to display several types of signage intent on grabbing the attention of the passing public. These techniques were common in Sellwood at this time as well: Marquees with the store name in front of a business could be found up and down 17th Street, while other merchants would paint a mural on the side of their building to advertise dairy products, tobacco, a variety of coffee brands available in the store, or perhaps farm implements.

Bob Welch also used the side of his delivery vans for advertising. The words “The Welch Grocery Co. Sellwood” were prominently painted in bold black letters against a white background, and the store phone number, Sellwood 303, appeared on both sides of his wagons.

But why not mention Mr. Applegate? Well, he had only stayed with Bob Welch for three years, so photos of the Welch Grocery wagons painted this way were probably taken after Applegate had left the business. But his former partner did not disappear: He opened a new store of his own, the “Applegate and Southwick Grocery”, just up the street, at Spokane and Milwaukie Avenue.

Bob Welch took advantage of national advertising done in newspapers by stocking major brand name products like Golden Grain Granules, Madam Sweetheart Soap, and Kaola Pure Coconut Butter used for home cooking. He also took special interest in advertising local products available at Welch’s, like Hood River Newton Apples for $1.25 a box.

In the increasingly competitive retail atmosphere in Sellwood, Bob Welch relied heavily on taking advantage of new marketing ideas. Companies on the East Coast wanting to promote their brand name merchandise to the public would advertise a specialized product in major magazines and newspaper ads, and markets like Welch’s Grocery Store could receive free advertising for stocking it. Bob happily took that – and then went on to advertise more, himself, as well.

By advertising his store and the products he sold in large newspapers, Welch hoped to attract a wider variety of consumers, and to bring in new customers to see the range of his merchandise.

Welch’s store began offering Portland’s locally-made Big Paint products; Patrons could now visit his grocery store and buy Big Paint Floor and Porch paint, Big Paint Floor Varnish, and creosote stain for Shingles and Roof. Consumers could even decide on which of the 42 different shades of house paint made by Big Paint would look best on their home. Paint brushes, gloves, and cleanup supplies were also stocked there.

The pastries, bread rolls, bread and pies usually found at the local bakery were also becoming available at Welch’s for shoppers. From our own perspective a century later, it seems as if Welch’s Grocery was moving towards the one-stop-shopping theme initiated by Fred G. Meyer in the 1930’s!

A wall near the entrance of the store would be reserved for customers to tack notices on items they wanted to sell, to post election results, and to announce community meetings.  Patrons stopping by to tack up a notice or read the community board often felt obligated to buy something or check out any weekly specials on sale. Holding events at the store also brought in additional visitors.

The hall above the store was available for dances, holiday celebrations, and special demonstrations of new products. In 1903 the Reverend H.V. Haslam held services for his Free Methodist Church there on numerous occasions.

Bob Welch most likely never intended for his store to become a training center for young boys interested in starting a career in the food industry, but many of his stockboys and clerks did go on to became store owners. Some even became familiar faces to Sellwood shoppers in the years to come.

The list of ex-employees who later opened their own business after working at Welch’s Grocery was quite substantial. It included, as already mentioned, Oliver Applegate and his new partner Southwick who later operated their store at nearby; and Roy Clifford, who had sacked groceries at Welch’s, later operated “Clifford’s Cash and Go Grocery” on 13th Avenue at Malden. Albert J. Henneman, who had first delivered Welch’s store fliers to household doorsteps, and also delivered groceries in the neighborhood for Bob Welch, later opened one of the first grocery stores in Westmoreland on April 25th, 1913. Even Bob’s own brother-in-law, James N. Slavins, got into the action by opening the Slavins and Shutts Market in 1919.

One of Welch’s employees, Warner C. Garner, had quite a prestigious background: Raised among family merchants who operated a long-time grocery store in Donalson, Illinois, Warner was already quite knowledgeable in the retail business when he was hired by Bob. Before he arrived in Portland, Garner had fought in the Civil War, serving with Company A of the 91st Illinois Infantry. He retired from the Welch Grocery in 1916, and passed away in the following year.

There even was a minor connection between the store and the Portland Rose Festival: In the early days, it was not the schools who chose the Rose Festival Princesses, but neighborhoods would elect their own – often as commercial promotions. In 1911, votes for the Sellwood Princess were tallied by the local merchants, and residents were encouraged to visit their favorite retailer to buy a product, and cast a cast a vote for the girl they felt would best represent the neighborhood. Miss Frankie Donnell, a cashier at the Welch grocery, was the winner – easily outdistancing the other contestants in these “votes”.

It should be noted that Bob Welch once saw his store saved by the quick action of foot patrol police officer Trout! That happened in the summer of 1912 when Officer Trout, while on late-night patrol, discovered a fire burning under the Welch Grocery Store, and with the help of a passing resident, quickly put out the flames before any damage was incurred.

As early as 1912, Welch’s began offering one of the first “customer rewards” program – the giving, with purchases, of free S&H Green Stamps. Patrons were given one or more small green stamps for purchasing products at the store; the stamps could be accumulated, pasted in booklets, and the completed booklets could be exchanged for free merchandise. Stamps were collected with great excitement by the public and could be redeemed through an S&H catalogue or at the Green Stamp Premium Parlor on the fourth floor of the Olds, Wortman, and Kings Department Store in downtown Portland. A wide selection including glassware, china ware, sporting goods, outdoor camping merchandise, perfume, linens, and furniture were available to the consumer free if they had enough stamps. Green Stamps continued to be popular until the late 1970s, when consumer interest began to dwindle in collecting and gluing stamps into booklets for eventual rewards.

Small grocery stores seemed to be popping up on almost every other city corner, so attracting customers became harder and harder for competing store owners. But Bob Welch wasn’t going anywhere, and he made the point by building a new home for his family. The Welch home was situated on the corner of 16th and S.E. Umatilla, just a few blocks from his store.

In 1914, the Griffith Brothers, Earl and Jonathan, joined with Bob Welch to open another Welch Grocery Store in Westmoreland – but, a few years later, the Oregon Journal newspaper reported that the Griffiths had filed for bankruptcy, and all of their store’s assets were being auctioned off. Within the next few years Welch’s brother-in-law, James N. Slavins, and Isaiah Shutts had spruced up the old Welch grocery at Tacoma Street, added fresh stock and staples, and opened it under the new name of “S & S Grocery Store”.

For the next fourteen years the Slavins and Shutts market was a mainstay in the 17th Street commercial district, with only an occasional incident – such as this one: On January 19, 1929, the Oregon Journal reported, “The S & S Grocery in Sellwood was looted of butter, meat, candy, and other merchandise. The prowler even helped himself to James Slavin’s touring car, kept at the rear of the store.”  The police located James’ car just a few blocks away, but they were never able to recover the stolen groceries.

In the 1920s, Bob made an attempt to bring back a new version of the Welch Grocery store. Possibly Bob was attempting to revive the lustre of his old days – or maybe he simply wanted to show support for his son, who was trying to open a new store. But Bob provided the financial backing for “Robert Junior”, and the store opened for business in the commercial district along 13th.  Using Bob’s own well-honed marketing skills, the store offered something new – soft drinks sold in a glass bottle! This, at time when soft drinks could only be obtained over the counter, in a drinking glass, at a Confectionary or at a Pharmacy fountain.

Unfortunately, Robert (it’s unclear whether it was the old man, or his son) was caught selling home-made moonshine to an undercover cop during Prohibition in Oregon – when the selling of any hard liquor to the public was illegal. The grocery store shut its doors, and nobody stepped forward to use the Welch name again.

Alas, for many merchants and mom and pop grocery stores, the Great Depression wrought havoc – including for the S & S Grocery on 17th Street. When that store closed, never again was a grocery store operating in that building. The Husbands Upholstery Shop took the place of the old Slavins and Welch store for the next quarter century, but finally it was time to tear down the old landmark. The Welch’s Grocery building, home once upon a time of Sellwood’s most successful businesses ever, was no more.

Nowadays, in Portland, you won’t be able to find the small mom and pop corner grocery stores that once graced Sellwood and Westmoreland, or the old drayage and stables that cared for the horses used to transport and deliver merchandise either.

And you won’t be able to enter a general store filled with the smells of leather harnesses, coffee, and fresh tobacco, or feel the cozy warmth of a potbelly stove in the corner of the store, burning pieces of Douglas fir – not in this growing urban city!

But, if you’re like me, it’s always a compellingly interesting exercise to track down where these and many other things of the past once stood, and to learn their stories.