Part of the Oregon building gave way to extend Bishop Street to Beretania in the 1920s. Sister building, The Portland, is shown below.
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin

Building gave way to
Bishop Street

Where Bishop Street crosses Hotel, there's a bit of a building called "Oregon." Nearby, there's a "Portland" building that's reasonably intact, but the Oregon building has the look of a structure that couldn't make up its mind. Architectural details shift dramatically on its facade, and it's not big enough to carry off the switch.

Hey, if you had three-fourths of you amputated, you'd look odd too. That's exactly what happened to the Oregon.

Built in 1901 by Northwest expats (who also built the Portland), the Oregon was a handsome, two-story structure with arched windows and awnings, and the whole building capped the end of Bishop Street. That's right, Bishop ended at Hotel. Behind the Oregon there was a warren of alleys and old buildings. Bishop Street, however, had some swell-looking banks and financial centers going up in the early 1920s.

The bankers wanted Bishop to extend all the way to Beretania Street. In 1924, the City filed condemnation notices for the Oregon and the buildings behind her. Total cost was $600,000, big dough for the time, and by 1927, happy bankers could stroll from the piers to Beretania in a straight line.

The City also proposed a trolley line down the middle of Bishop, but horrified howls from the bankers nixed that idea.

What was left of the Oregon was patched up, and for many years housed Jake's restaurant, early-morning hang-out for Honolulu politicos.

Much of the this information was gleaned from a handsome book just produced by First Hawaiian Bank called "On Bishop Street," by Kenneth L. Ames.

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By Burl Burlingame