Aerial of Mt. Tabor and all 4 reservoirs, looking north toward Rocky Butte, 1971.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, Aerial of Mt Tabor looking northeast, A2008-009, 1971.
Mt. Tabor, 1971
Vintage Portland
Aerial of Mt. Tabor and all 4 reservoirs, looking north toward Rocky Butte, 1971.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, Aerial of Mt Tabor looking northeast, A2008-009, 1971.
Vintage Portland 
What an awesome photo. The reservoirs supplied water to Portland residents until end of 2015. Most of us remember the kid who urinated in reservoir #5 back in 2011 that caused the city to empty the 38M gallon supply pond which caused outrage. Reservoir 2, on the corner of SE 60th and Division, was decommissioned in the 1980s, and the property was sold to a private developer. Its gatehouse remains, and is used as a private residence. Reservoir 6 is the largest, with two 37 million gallon chambers; it also contains 2 fountains, which were unused for many years; however, one was reactivated in early 2007. So, bottom reservoir with single fountain is R#2. Above that is R#6 with the 2 fountains. R#5 oval shaped top fountain and the smaller reservoir obscured by the trees is #1. I think the city is planning to maintain the historic appearance of the reservoirs and restore them to their original conditions.
It was rare to see the reservoirs so full. Reservoir 6 is so full that its dividing wall is underwater.
This view shows how much land those reservoirs occupy. I am probably the only person in the city who thinks it would be OK to see one or two of them demolished and turned into park land. Trees are the lungs of the city, you know.
Reservoir 2 and the large open area north of it is all housing, not too many trees. And the strip north of that is just an open field. Wonder why they haven’t planted any trees there?
Beautiful picture! I love My Tabor (:
Does anyone have a date for this photo? 1970’s ??
Carter Kennedy. These reservoirs provided the city for over 100 years with the purest and best tasting water in the country, They are world known for the peace, tranquility and beauty. We have been battling our city leaders (?) for over 25 years to retain and maintain our reservoirs. YES you are the the only person in the city who think it would be ok to demolish and turn into park land. “Trees are the lives of the city”.You bet they are. Challenge some of the developers who destroy old beautiful trees for multi story apartment buildings we not want or need.
Photo date: 3/17/1971
They should be built into huge apartment towers.
The city can use the tax money and they can fill with immigrants what many city people go out of their way begging them to arrive.
Today, more or less…
http://tinyurl.com/ybsm7hka
@Susan. Are you talking about the seemingly empty area between Lincoln and Harrison? That’s a nursery for the city (parks, etc).
Edge Lord;
Thanks for the date. Next time I will open both eyes before I comment.
i live on 58th and Madison, and looking at this pic, it seems to NOT show Hawthorne extending to 60th in 1971. is that so? anyone know? maybe i’m just not seeing it in the image.
Hawthorne Boulevard has always gone through to 60th Avenue. I was born and raised on Mt. Tabor (54th & Lincoln) and a friend of mine from Atkinson Elementary lived on 59th and Hawthorne back in the 1960’s, and we always walked to Reservoir # 6 by way of Hawthorne.
Does anyone know when the southern-most reservoir was filled in? And why?
Christopher: I’ve been checking old issues of The Oregonian to try to answer your question. The best I’ve done so far is an article in January of 1988 that refers to the old “long unused” reservoir at SE 60th and Division being sold to a developer for $500,000. It looks like his plan came to fruition: A retirement home is there now. So far, I’ve not been able to find any stories about when the reservoir was drained — or why.
I just found another article from March of 1988 that says the reservoir was taken out of service “about 10 years ago after (city) engineers determined it was damaging water quality.”
Thanks for looking into it John. I vaguely remember the wall along Division. Really tragic that it was demolished.
Does anyone know why the water jets haven’t been running of late?
I just found this. I, too, remember Res 2 fondly. I grew up in the house on Windsor Ct behind the grocery store at 62nd and Division in the photo. I could watch the fountain from my bedroom window.
David Stone, who commented above, was my Little League teammate. His dad was our coach. Would love to connect, but can’t find him online. David, if you see this, I’m in the WhitePages.com.
The reservoir retaining wall on Division is mostly still intact. You can see it on Google street view. They only cut into it for driveways to the Courtyard at Mt. Tabor retirement home.