Creston-Kenilworth

A break in the January winter weather had me walking on a Wednesday with Jo Ellen in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood. The Kenilworth neighborhood was platted in 1889 and is named after Sir Walter Scott's novel Kenilworth, written in 1821, a romantic novel set in Elizabethan England. Many of the streets in the neighborhood take their names from this novel and other novels by Scott. Though a very small neighborhood, it boasts two parks, Creston and Kenilworth, next to Grout Elementary School, and a real jewel, the Community Music Center housed in a historic firehouse. Community Music Center, Inc. was founded as a non-profit association in February 1960 by a group of parents and interested citizens who played a vital role in the remodeling of a beautiful 1912 firehouse - the oldest in Portland and designated a Portland Historic Landmark - which became the permanent home of the in 1969. Affordable music lessons and recitals are offered through Portland Parks and Recreation to almost 1000 students a year! Walking up Gladstone we found The Gladstone Pub and Tony’s Antiques. Walking in Tony’s was a walk down memory lane with so many nostalgic toys and other items from my youth. On the corner of 42nd and SE Gladstone we saw the cozy Creston Café. The neighborhood boasts lots of charming older homes.