The Italian Gardeners and Ranchers Association Market Building

The Italian Market, also known as the Italian Gardeners and Ranchers Association Market Building, is a two-story commercial structure in southeast Portland, Oregon. Built of concrete in 1922 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, the square building occupies an entire block of the Central Eastside Industrial District. It features a flat roof, large loading bays, multi-paned casement windows, and a full basement.

Originally catering to farmers and peddlers of Italian origin, the building housed produce-related stores, a pool hall, meeting halls, a dairy-product area, and Italian restaurants. Later, the building was reorganized for use by three businesses - two on the first floor and one on the second - as well as office space on the second floor.

The Italian Gardeners and Ranchers Association formed around 1900 after many Italian immigrants settled near Johns Landing on the west bank of the Willamette River and south of Hawthorne Boulevard on the east bank. The Association initially set up in a run-down building on the west side of the river but moved to the east side to construct a two-story wooden market building in what came to be known as produce row.

After the wooden building was destroyed by fire in 1921, the Association replaced it with the current concrete structure. In 1929, the Association moved to a larger building at Belmont Street and Southeast 10th Avenue, which was part of a second produce row in southeast Portland.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons