As we continue to work our way through our archive of photos, we run across some that are a bit out of the ordinary.  They may be humorous or unique but they stand out from the other photos. We will post new photos here monthly with the previous photos in the slideshow.

Our July Photo of the Month is an aerial view of Bernard’s Airport, the property directly east of the Tektronix Beaverton Campus when it was purchased in 1956. In operation from 1928 to 1969, the airport was owned and operated by Charles Bernard on the former site of Premium Picture Productions, a silent movie production company in Beaverton from 1922 to 1925.

The photo, which was taken in 1966, shows what was earlier called Cedar Avenue, now Cedar Hills Boulevard, on the right and the curve of SW Hocken on the left as it turns into Karl Braun Drive on the Tektronix Campus. As Beaverton grew, especially driven by the relocation of Tektronix from the Sunset Plant, there was conflict between flyers and the airport operator with local residents about airplane traffic on/over Jenkins Road. In an attempt to preserve the airport, Tektronix attempted to work with Charles Bernard, the owner, to jointly propose a new road be built along the east side of the airport from Walker Road to the Tualatin Valley Highway. This was rejected by a Washington County judge in 1957.

There were stories of employees flying into work and at least one minor plane crash on the Tektronix Campus. When the airport was finally closed it was repurposed into Bernard’s Beaverton Mall, now Cedar Hills Crossing. The new McMenamin’s on the north side of Jenkins has taken the airport as its theme–they have aircraft art and airport-related storyboards.

Previous Photos of the Month