Info from PBOT on this photo.” Steam railroads first provided local area service. This is a line that was put on MLK Blvd that ran to Woodlawn and the ferry to Vancouver. This is the Portsmouth area. What you see here is the station and also a lookout point. There was a real estate subdivision here. On Sunday, real estate agents would give people free tickets to come here, take them up to the lookout, and sell them a lot. The transportation system is being subsidized by the selling of real estate.
“
Gobsmacking! What an array of delights–the engine, station, people, tower, and a transitional year in transportation, as stations like this will soon electrify.
I would guess this approximately where the Portsmouth-Lombard intersection is now, which is here:
…but with the Great Renaming of 1891 also about to occur, who knows, I doubt any of this scene remains.
My favorite hidden detail is the dude in the tower. Is that a tree in the right rear, and if so, why would it be trimmed so strangely?
This pic will require VP’s best rail historians and I can’t wait to hear what they know. Maybe the steam engine is still somewhere on display…
odd.
Love these really old photos! Great posting!
June 2019 View
Thx wplou! (I’ve no idea why the overhead google map had an error)
I understand the Lombard part, but where would this neighborhood development be at the juncture of Portsmouth & Lombard. Houses built in that area seem built less planned as a development. Could the development have been closer to the University of Portland overlooking the Willamette from Mock’s Crest? The property abstract of my grandparents’ place indicate that the small acreage upon which their home & barns were built had once been part of a much larger property tied to what we called the Mock’s Crest Mansion.
Page ’22’ in the book ‘St Johns Street cars’ by Richard Thomas. Picture from different angle.
In 1883 a group of realtors operating as the “Portsmouth Real Estate Association” platted a subdivision around present day Portsmouth Avenue and Lombard. The association referred to the subdivision as “City of Portsmouth” although a proper municipality was never established. This land was acquired by the Electric Land Company which platted “Portsmouth Villa” in 1889 (Wikipedia source)
Several newspaper ads were placed by Avery & Churchill real estate in 1890-1891 for lots in “Portsmouth Villa”, with some of these ads offering free round trip tickets as mention by Mike.
In 1891 “Portland University” which was an off shoot of “Willamette University” was established on Willamette Blvd. and they sold plots in the University Park neighborhood to finance their operations. The university only lasted until 1900, and in 1901 became the location of present day “University of Portland” (Wikipedia source)
Portsmouth depot location was likely at Lombard & Portsmouth as shown on the photo.
excerpt Oregonian 9/20/1892
Before the wet weather sets in, a plank sidewalk, which will extend from the depot at Portsmouth to the boulevard (Willamette Blvd), will be laid. This will make a continuous sidewalk to the university from Portsmouth station.
I am going to go out on a bit of limb here and say the information on the photo as posted here is wrong. That station was not on N Lombard and not on North Portsmouth. It was not in what is currently the Portsmouth neighborhood. 1. Google Library of Congress 1889 Map of Multnomah County and zoom in to the Woodlawn neighborhood. What do see? The Portland and Vancouver rail line that went on what was then NE Union out to the Vancouver Ferry. 2. From a paper A History of the street railway systems of Vancouver Washington. ( Vancouver folks saws what happening in Portland with street cars and copied it) From that paper ” In 1888 a Portland firm built a steam powered railway from East Portland, through its real estate development, Woodlawn, to the Vancouver ferry. ” That tower and station were in the Woodlawn area.
Well moderated comments can be a pain at times. I did not see Dennis’s post prior to making my post because it had not been approved yet. I retract my post above
Vintage Portland 
Info from PBOT on this photo.” Steam railroads first provided local area service. This is a line that was put on MLK Blvd that ran to Woodlawn and the ferry to Vancouver. This is the Portsmouth area. What you see here is the station and also a lookout point. There was a real estate subdivision here. On Sunday, real estate agents would give people free tickets to come here, take them up to the lookout, and sell them a lot. The transportation system is being subsidized by the selling of real estate.
“
Gobsmacking! What an array of delights–the engine, station, people, tower, and a transitional year in transportation, as stations like this will soon electrify.
I would guess this approximately where the Portsmouth-Lombard intersection is now, which is here:
…but with the Great Renaming of 1891 also about to occur, who knows, I doubt any of this scene remains.
My favorite hidden detail is the dude in the tower. Is that a tree in the right rear, and if so, why would it be trimmed so strangely?
This pic will require VP’s best rail historians and I can’t wait to hear what they know. Maybe the steam engine is still somewhere on display…
odd.
Love these really old photos! Great posting!
June 2019 View
Thx wplou! (I’ve no idea why the overhead google map had an error)
I understand the Lombard part, but where would this neighborhood development be at the juncture of Portsmouth & Lombard. Houses built in that area seem built less planned as a development. Could the development have been closer to the University of Portland overlooking the Willamette from Mock’s Crest? The property abstract of my grandparents’ place indicate that the small acreage upon which their home & barns were built had once been part of a much larger property tied to what we called the Mock’s Crest Mansion.
Page ’22’ in the book ‘St Johns Street cars’ by Richard Thomas. Picture from different angle.
In 1883 a group of realtors operating as the “Portsmouth Real Estate Association” platted a subdivision around present day Portsmouth Avenue and Lombard. The association referred to the subdivision as “City of Portsmouth” although a proper municipality was never established. This land was acquired by the Electric Land Company which platted “Portsmouth Villa” in 1889 (Wikipedia source)
Several newspaper ads were placed by Avery & Churchill real estate in 1890-1891 for lots in “Portsmouth Villa”, with some of these ads offering free round trip tickets as mention by Mike.
In 1891 “Portland University” which was an off shoot of “Willamette University” was established on Willamette Blvd. and they sold plots in the University Park neighborhood to finance their operations. The university only lasted until 1900, and in 1901 became the location of present day “University of Portland” (Wikipedia source)
Portsmouth depot location was likely at Lombard & Portsmouth as shown on the photo.
excerpt Oregonian 9/20/1892
Before the wet weather sets in, a plank sidewalk, which will extend from the depot at Portsmouth to the boulevard (Willamette Blvd), will be laid. This will make a continuous sidewalk to the university from Portsmouth station.
I am going to go out on a bit of limb here and say the information on the photo as posted here is wrong. That station was not on N Lombard and not on North Portsmouth. It was not in what is currently the Portsmouth neighborhood. 1. Google Library of Congress 1889 Map of Multnomah County and zoom in to the Woodlawn neighborhood. What do see? The Portland and Vancouver rail line that went on what was then NE Union out to the Vancouver Ferry. 2. From a paper A History of the street railway systems of Vancouver Washington. ( Vancouver folks saws what happening in Portland with street cars and copied it) From that paper ” In 1888 a Portland firm built a steam powered railway from East Portland, through its real estate development, Woodlawn, to the Vancouver ferry. ” That tower and station were in the Woodlawn area.
Well moderated comments can be a pain at times. I did not see Dennis’s post prior to making my post because it had not been approved yet. I retract my post above