This was a bit of Portland’s City Park Zoo in 1898. The pond in the center was the water fowl exhibit and the bit of water seen to the left was the seal pond. Now a part of Washington Park, this little bit of land is in the very northeast corner of the park and is called The Dog Park. It faces W Burnside here where it begins its uphill climb; SW Osage St. is just off the right edge.
(City of Portland Archives)
Vintage Portland 
That zoo was spread all over Washington Park. Parts were along SW Sherwood Blvd. just south of the rose gardens. The covered play area there was Rosy the elephant’s first home. Other parts were located where the Japanese Garden is now.
Whoa, looks like this portion of the West Hills extended farther east back then than it does now. The area across Burnside from the Dog Park is a building on flat land; in this picture there’s a hill behind the building and log pile.
Of course, it could also just be the angle at which the picture was taken.
Yes, I think this is one of those places they leveled so they could build on it.
Don – I believe a large chunk of that hill was removed in a sluicing operation in the early 20th century, forming the bluff (instead of the slope seen here) upon which the Uptown Terrace complex sits.
I’ve always wondered why the name of the park was changed from “City Park” to “Washington Park.” I understand that there were an increasing # of parks at that time so that “City” was kind of generic but I never understood the choice of “Washington.” Now I understand that, at the time of this photo, Burnside in this area was called Washington. Does this explain the name?
There are pictures of the sluicing operation in a new book about Northwest Portland called a History of Northwest Portland from the river to the hills. The development was called Westover Terraces. Although that house is not in slabtown you can see why how that area of town got it’s name because so many homes in that area had piles of slabs out front drying like the home pictured.