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24-404: The Kenton Club is located in north Portland's Kenton neighborhood. The music venue hosts disc jockeys, karaoke, and other live events in a variety of genres. Kenton Club's clientele has been described as "gray-haired", but has catered to late-night and younger audiences in recent years with the addition of live music and inexpensive beer options. The interior has wood panelling , and in front of

48-564: A "honky-tonk and rumble-ready" biker bar shortly thereafter. In 1972, the venue appeared in Kansas City Bomber , starring Raquel Welch . The Kenton Club adopted the "world famous" tagline, and became known as the World Famous Kenton Club as a "permanent memorial" to the film and Welch. Memorabilia related to Kansas City Bomber and Welch are displayed throughout the venue. Daryl and Doreen Waitt purchased

72-630: A 1948 flood, is also located within the current boundaries of the Kenton neighborhood. Before the 1900s, Kenton was a farming community similar to other townships in the area like University Park and St. Johns until it became a company town built by the Swift Meat Packing Company . By 1910, US$ 120,000 worth of buildings had been erected in the neighborhood with many fashioned out of concrete and brick. Two three-story brick hotels were built in Kenton in 1910. Plants from companies like

96-537: A group of people who looked for the ghost. Kenton had a semi-professional baseball team in 1916 and 1917. The Kenton Giants played in the Inter-City League with three other teams. The 1959 Oregon Centennial celebrations were held in Kenton. To commemorate the occasion, a large statue of Paul Bunyan was built at the intersection of North Interstate Avenue and North Argyle Street (just north of Kenton's historic business district on North Denver Avenue) as

120-753: A reminder of centennial festivities. The statue still stands at the corner of North Interstate and North Denver, across from the Kenton/North Denver Avenue station , and is considered a symbol of the neighborhood. The statue was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 28, 2009. Directly across N Denver Ave from the Paul Bunyan Statue are the four blue hooves of Babe the Blue Ox, his trusted animal companion. The Kenton Commercial Historic District

144-502: A shit." In 2017, the newspaper's Matthew Korfhage called Kenton "one of Portland's last bars to still have hair on its chest and a swagger in its boots". He wrote, "The beer is cheap, the music's almost always free from Thursday to Sunday, and somebody's always spilled some beer. It used to be a bit more rough-and-ready in here, but even slightly cleaned up for the new karaoke-and-game-night crowds, it remains lovingly imperfect in every way that matters." The ornamental concrete block building

168-468: Is located on North Denver Avenue, extending roughly four blocks south from North Interstate Avenue, where the Paul Bunyan statue stands. The district was developed mainly between 1910 and 1949, and contains an unusually high concentration of buildings constructed using ornamental concrete blocks. The area developed directly as an outgrowth of Swift & Company's decision to run a streetcar line along

192-563: Is located within the Kenton Commercial Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places . It was built in 1949 by the Kenton Building and Contracting Company and designed by Swift & Company. The building as constructed would have made it a Contributing Property to the historic district had its exterior not been significantly modified. Exterior tile work, removal of storefronts, and

216-406: The queer community and features boogie , disco , funk , and house music , and "Vampyros Lesbos Dance Party", described as a "goth, post-punk, and industrial dance night for femmes and allies". In 2013, Kenton Club hosted Birdcloud and a queer country and honky-tonk dance party. The club was a featured stop on "Anticon", a competing event to SantaCon , in 2016. For New Year's Eve in 2018,

240-502: The Kenton Club's jukebox selection as "packed with plenty of classic country, blues, and punk — Hank Williams Sr. alongside Hank III". The bar has happy hour each weekday, as of 2016. In her 2013 walking guide of Portland, Becky Ohlsen described Kenton Club as "an excellent lowbrow hangout with a rocky facade, a wood-paneled interior, cheap drinks, live music, and a friendly, rowdy crowd". The Kenton Club opened in 1947, and became

264-625: The Kenton Push Club to lobby the Portland City Council to pass a bond to pave the roads. After a long fight with the city council, the roads were paved in 1911. By 1913, US$ 300,000 had been spent on paving the streets of Kenton. The growing community soon demanded a park, library and schoolhouse. Just a few years later, Kenton was annexed with St. Johns by the City of Portland , becoming home to Portland's main stockyards and

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288-526: The National Wood Pipe Company, Davis Safe and Lock Company, Union Meat Company and Portland Union Stockyards called Kenton home. A concrete apartment building was built by C. H. Carey costing US$ 22,000. In 1909, Portland, Oregon Mayor Joseph Simon took an automobile trip to Kenton where he announced general improvements for the community like road pavement, street lamps and a fire station . The streets were still dirt in 1910, leading

312-478: The Pearl District, not here." She said the bar has a "fantastic neighborhood feel" and "welcoming atmosphere", opining: The World Famous Kenton Club does a fantastic job of maintaining a no-fuss honky-tonk vibe, and it's easy to imagine Willie Nelson and a passel of pals meeting up here for an afternoon beer, a late night hootenanny or a morning constitutional... Leave any pretensions you've been carrying on

336-476: The business in 2006. Smoky Mountain BBQ began serving Southern cuisine for lunch and dinner inside the Kenton Club in 2008; the menu features brisket , collard greens , dirty rice , fried fish , hushpuppy , meatloaf , pulled pork , and ribs . The venue has hosted a variety of events and performers. Recurring dance events include "Club Nitty Gritty" ( rhythm and blues and soul music ), "Twirl", which caters to

360-643: The center of the West Coast cattle trade for a time. A story of the "Kenton ghost" was published in the January 5, 1913 edition of The Oregonian which recounted several residents accounts of a shadowy figure lurking the streets of the community. Several prominent citizens came forward with their own sightings of the ghost including the secretary of the Interstate Bridge Commission. Former Albina, Oregon Mayor W. M. Killingsworth led

384-517: The channel of the Columbia River that separates the area from Hayden Island . Kenton's eastern boundary is Interstate 5 and the neighborhood's southern edge is defined by North Lombard Street . The western border (traveling from north to south, respectively) follows North Portland Road, North Columbia Boulevard, and North Chautauqua Boulevard. The Columbia Slough passes through Kenton. Neighborhoods bordering Kenton are: Hayden Island to

408-501: The club hosted "Mutant Meltdown" featuring disco and new wave music . In 2019, the venue hosted the supergroup Wtfukushima, featuring members Fur Dixon and Dusty Watson . Kenton Club has also hosted the local music festivals "Booberamapaloozafest" and "MedEvil Madness". The Oregonian 's Seth Lorinczi described Kenton Club as "lovably shabby" and said "its notoriety derives from weekend country and rockabilly acts". In his 2008 review of Smoky Mountain BBQ, Lorinczi quipped about

432-417: The covering of some windows have "damaged its historic integrity", causing it to be classified as "historic noncontributing". Kenton, Portland, Oregon Kenton is a neighborhood in the north section of Portland, Oregon , United States. The neighborhood was originally a company town founded in 1911 for the Swift Meat Packing Company . Kenton's northern border is formed by North Portland Harbor ,

456-582: The north; Bridgeton , Sunderland , and Piedmont to the east; Arbor Lodge to the south; University Park to the southwest; and Portsmouth and St. Johns to the west. Kenton is home to the Portland International Raceway and the Portland Metropolitan Expo Center . The historic site of Vanport , a public housing project built to provide homes for World War II shipbuilders, later destroyed by

480-512: The sidewalk before you step into the dark and laid-back environs. The world has enough hipsters: The World Famous Kenton Club is an establishment whose coolness cannot be co-opted, and whose vibe-y atmosphere may have been immortalized but can't be duplicated. Chris Sutton of The Portland Mercury described the Kenton Club as a "special kind of time machine taking you back to much simpler days—when there were fewer beer choices and hairy-chested macho men like Burt Reynolds were considered gods". He said

504-428: The stage is a large hardwood floor. There are low ceilings, Formica tables, linoleum , and vinyl-upholstered chairs, as of 2007. The venue's designated smoking area has been described as both "vast and intimate". Billiard tables , darts , pinball , trivia, and video poker machines are available for guests. In his 2016 overview of Portland's jukeboxes , The Portland Mercury 's Santi Elijah Holley described

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528-406: The venue "straddles the line between public house amenity and dimly lit seediness so well", and its video poker machines "only [add] to the charm of a classic watering hole dripping with historic sentimentality". The venue is ranked number 94 on Willamette Week 's list of Portland's "100 best bars". Zach Middleton quipped, "Get here soon, or don't. Neither Raquel Welch nor the day patrons give

552-519: The venue and its clientele, "Brave dim lighting and aged tipplers, or slink back to the cave with your kill." In her 2019 book Walking Portland , Becky Ohlsen said the Kenton Club has a "charming bravado". Barbara Mitchell of the Portland Tribune wrote in her 2007 review, "Drinks are stiff, cheap and simple for the most part – after all, this is a watering hole that pours its wine out of a box. If you're craving an artisan cocktail, you'd be in

576-562: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 for its role in the development of the neighborhood and the city. Kenton Commercial Historic District The Kenton Commercial Historic District is a historic district in north Portland, Oregon 's Kenton neighborhood, in the United States. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Kenton's principal commercial district

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