Beverly Cleary Walking Tour

Ever since I moved to my new neighborhood about a year ago I've been meaning to take myself on a little Beverly Cleary tour. For those who don't know, Beverly Cleary is a famous childrens' novelist, author of the Ramona books, Henry Huggins series and The Mouse and the Motorcycle, to name a few. She used to live in my neighborhood, and set some of her most memorable stories here in the Hollywood District of Portland, OR.

Actually, there have been a series of similarities between the places I've lived and the path Beverly Cleary's life took -- she was born in Yamhill County, like me. She grew up in McMinnville, like me. When she lived in Portland, she lived in the same neighborhood I live in. She went to college in Ontario, CA which is close to Redlands, CA where I went to college.

Anyway, today I finally decided to take a walk and check things out but unfortunately the map provided by the Hollywood Library is not very specific. I mostly wanted to see Ramona Quimby's house, and the neighborhood she and Henry Huggins used to hang out in. I knew it was on Klickitat street, from the books, but the map showed Ramona's house as being on the corner of 28th and Klickitat. A map on Beverly Cleary's website showed the house on the corner of 32nd and Klickitat, and the short-lived Ramona TV series shows the house on the corner of 37th and Klickitat. Of course, the TV show's street sign has NE Klickitat crossing NW 37th, which makes no sense, so I think we can throw that out.

I walked up 33rd so I could pass Beverly Cleary's childhood home, but again, it was hard to figure out which house it was. The house on the corner of Tillamook and 33rd is the closest I could figure it, but there were "Private Property" signs and the place looked rundown and inhospitable, so I decided not to bother loitering around.

I passed the 76 station, which apparently also used to be a gas station back in the 50s. In the book HENRY AND RIBSY, Ribsy the dog steals a policeman's lunch at this location, which Cleary calls Al's Thrifty Service Station. Ribsy -- always causing trouble. Between Ramona and Ribsy always messing up his life, it's a wonder Henry didn't end up on anti-anxiety meds. I mean all he ever wanted was a sweet bike and a Chinook Salmon. But what does he get? A cranky 4-year-old and a thief of a dog.







Right next door is the QFC I shop at all the time. You know, the one that doesn't have a Cesar Chavez aisle? Apparently back in Ramona's day it was still under construction. In RAMONA THE PEST, when this was an empty construction site, Ramona got stuck in the mud and Henry Huggins had to rescue her. She repays him by saying she wants to marry him, which is a little uncool since it's pretty clear there's an unspoken love affair brewing between Henry and Ramona's sister, whose name was Beatrice but everyone called her Beezus.


Across the street, I passed Beverly Cleary School. Back when Beverly Cleary lived here it was Fernwood School. She called it Glenwood School in RAMONA THE BRAVE. This is where most of Ramona's battles with that bitch Susan (boing) occurred.

A few blocks later, I passed Grant Park, where Henry Huggins went digging for fishing worms. This is where the Ramona, Henry and Ribsy statues are located. I've checked those out before, though, so I skipped them this time.





This is NE Knott, most notable as the location of Henry Huggins' paper route from HENRY AND THE PAPER ROUTE and HENRY AND THE CLUBHOUSE. Henry took his paper route responsibilities very seriously, first filling in for Scooter and then getting a route of his own. Of course Ramona almost ruined everything for him, but that's to be expected.

A little ways up the hill and I finally reached the holy grail: NE Klickitat, the street Ramona and Henry both lived on. But, as I said before, it was a little hard to figure out where Ramona's house was supposed to be. I tried the 28th and Klickitat location first but the joke was on me -- most of the north side of 28th and Klickitat isn't even residential. There's some kind of playground or school or something there. Weird.

So, I decided the 32nd location must be the one, even though the houses didn't look quite like I had imagined.

Through process of elimination, I decided this must be Henry Huggins' house. It's on the corner of 32nd and Klickitat, and according to the map on Beverly Cleary's website, that's where Henry lived. Then again, also according to the map on Beverly Cleary's website, the next street after 32nd is 15th, so who knows what's going on. Anyway I didn't get a good look at the backyard so I can't confirm or deny the existence of the afore mentioned CLUB HOUSE. It does look like the house is for sale, though, so if anyone wants to live in the old Huggins residence, now's your chance.

Which leads us to the main event, the house of Ramona Quimby herself. Here, Ramona put her doll in the oven. Here, Picky-Picky was buried in the backyard. This is the very location where Ramona squeezed all the tooth paste into the sink and Willa Jean threw kleenex everywhere.

This is where Ramona's dad sat unemployed and watched TV. Where Beezus and Ramona launched an anti-smoking campaign in an attempt to save their fathers' life. Where Ramona lost her virginity to Howie on her 16th birthday and Beezus finally attempted suicide.

Just kidding. Those last two never happened. At least, not according to Beverly Cleary.

There's a RAMONA AND BEEZUS movie in production, currently, and while I feel it's about time she hit the silver screen, I'm a little disappointed it's being shot in Canada like every other movie. How cool would it be if a Ramona flick was shot right here on Klickitat street? One of the few popular literary characters with ties to Portland, and the movie's not even being shot here. What a wasted opportunity. Hopefully they'll at least send out the second unit to pick up some local flavor, but we'll see.

At least there's still hope for Henry Huggins.