Fanny and David Korsun pose behind the counter at Korsun's Deli once standing at SW 1st and Caruthers, circa 1950. Like many South Portland businesses, the deli too was also forced out by urban renewal.

Image: Courtesy of Oregon Jewish Museum, OJM 53. (Used by permission)

Urban Renewal and the Hippies

Transformation of the South Portland neighborhood

Due to Urban Renewal, demolition of South Portland began in the early 1960s. The neighborhood, especially Lair Hill Park, became ground zero for hippies later in the decade.

As Told By...

Polina Olsen

Website: Polina Olsen's Books

Polina Olsen is a freelance writer and author of Stories From Jewish Portland, Portland in the 1960s: Stories From the Counterculture and other books on local history.  She lives in Portland with her husband, Andy, and cats Baba Ganoush and Koshka.