Buildings at SE 25th & Clinton during the 1970s.
A brief history
by Val Ballestrem (HAND resident and former HAND Board Member)
The Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood is comprised of several small neighborhoods, not receiving its official name (HAND) until the 1970s, as Portlanders began to create neighborhood associations as a means for residents to interact with local government, business leaders and each other.1 There is a tremendous wealth of history to the HAND neighborhood, a history that can be traced back to the area’s earliest settlements even prior to when it was part of the separate, incorporated city of East Portland. Hosford-Abernethy has undergone numerous changes since the mid-nineteenth century and continues its evolution to this day.
Located in southeast Portland, the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood borders the Willamette River on the west, Southeast 29th Avenue on the east, Powell Boulevard on the south and Hawthorne Boulevard on the north. The neighborhood is a diverse combination of business, industry, and residential areas. The name Hosford-Abernethy is derived from two schools which are located within the neighborhood. Hosford Middle School, on Southeast 28th Place is named after Methodist minister Chauncey O. Hosford a onetime resident of Portland who owned 200 acres of land on Mt. Tabor. Abernethy Elementary School is located on Southeast Orange Avenue, near Division Street. George Abernethy, like Hosford a Methodist missionary, was also Oregon’s first provincial governor.2 Neither of these two men held a direct interest in the neighborhood which bears their names but both remain important in the history of both Oregon and Portland. When considering individuals who did however impact the neighborhood directly, the names Tibbetts, Stephens, and Ladd are obvious choices for further exploration.
Home at SE 21st & Taggart sometime during the 1930s.
Gideon Tibbetts along with his wife Mary arrived in Portland in late 1847 having traveled for nine months on the Oregon Trail. Upon arriving in Portland, Tibbetts made a claim on a tract of land on the east side of the Willamette River that had essentially been abandoned by its former occupants who apparently had headed south in search of gold. The Gideon Tibbetts donation land claim, as it was known, stretched from the river east to what is now approximately Southeast 26th Avenue bordered on the north by Section Line Road (now Division Street) and on the south by Holgate Boulevard.
Tibbetts is considered the first developer of the land in what would become the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood as he cleared the land of its trees and brush in order to grow wheat, which ultimately led to his opening of a flour mill which sold “Brooklyn Mills Flour.”3 Around 1868, Tibbetts agreed to let the new railroad cross his land from north to south creating a neighborhood divide that exists to this day.4 It was after the railroad was in place and Portland’s population began to grow that Tibbetts decided to convert his land into a real estate development. Originally named “Brook Land” the development would eventually be known as Tibbetts’ Addition after the area was annexed by the City of Portland in 1891.5
Building at SE 26th & Clinton during the 1970s.
At the same time Tibbetts was developing his land, just to his north another land claim, belonging to James B. Stephens, was undergoing similar change. Stephens, who had come to Oregon in 1845, purchased his land claim for a mere $200.6 Stephens was the owner of Portland’s first Willamette River ferry which he operated from his home on the east bank of the river. He is also responsible for the original plat of the town of East Portland, filed in 1865 and the plat of Stephen’s Addition filed in 1869.7
Stephen’s Addition is today part of the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood stretching from Hawthorne Boulevard south to Division Street, the Willamette River east to Southeast 12th Avenue.8 Part of Stephen’s land claim was to the east of 12th Avenue and although cleared of trees, was mainly farmland until Stephens was forced to give up the land in a foreclosure proceeding. This land was purchased by William S. Ladd and would become Ladd’s Addition, the most widely recognized section of the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood.9
William S. Ladd arrived in Portland in 1851, beginning as a merchant importing liquor and wine.10 He became mayor of the still tiny town of Portland in 1854, the same year he that began to build what would become a substantial real estate, banking, and transportation empire, thus moving away from the liquor business altogether.11 In 1891, when Ladd purchased Stephen’s land east of 12th Avenue, he immediately put plans into place to subdivide the 128 acre farm into a housing development which would be designed like no other in Portland.12 Ladd designed the subdivision himself, using geometric patterns similar to those he had noticed while on a trip to Washington D.C.13 Ladd’s Addition is now the oldest planned community in Portland.14 Ladd’s plan included numerous “modern” amenities for his subdivision, namely gas and electric lighting, paved streets and sidewalks, and a sewer system.15
Unfortunately Ladd died before construction could begin on his new development and due to other economic problems in Portland during the 1890s the first home wasn’t completed in Ladd’s Addition until 1903.16 As the three “Additions” of Ladd, Stephens, and Tibbetts entered the twentieth century, transportation developments and an influx of immigrants would lead to further changes in the physical and social landscape of these East Portland neighborhoods.
Streetcar rails along SE Clinton, taken sometime during the 1920s.
With the addition of the railroad through East Portland beginning in 1868, the eastside waterfront began to develop, adding a number of mills and foundries.17 This marked the beginning of what is now known as the Central Eastside Industrial District, also a part of the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood. Portland’s southeast side also became home to many Italian immigrants who initially came to Portland to work on the railroads. While on Portland’s westside there was already a large Italian community by the late nineteenth century, the available land for farming on the eastside, was attractive to newcomers who started building houses in and around Ladd’s Addition.18 With such abundant space, the area began to grow rapidly as new houses were being built on extra-large lots in order to have space for the growing of produce both for personal consumption and for selling at local markets.19 By 1917 as the United States was entering the war in Europe, Italian immigration had peaked but they now held an undeniable presence in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood in the form of several businesses and churches like St. Philip Neri.20
Tradewell's at SE 21st & Division (where the current New Seasons is).
Transportation began to change the landscape of the neighborhood as early as 1868, when Tibbetts allowed the Oregon Central Railroad to bisect his land claim. By the twentieth century, these changes had evolved as a number of streetcars crisscrossed the neighborhood heading east/west on Clinton Street, Division, and Hawthorne, while going north/south on 11th and 12th avenues.21 The automobile also began to influence the neighborhood, both in the number of vehicles and in structures, as the Ford Motor Company opened a plant at the intersection of Division and 11th. In 1926 automobile traffic was further stimulated through the neighborhood with the opening of the Ross Island Bridge.22 Tibbetts Addition was permanently split by the increased traffic on Powell Boulevard, leaving residents on the south side of Powell to develop their own neighborhood identity, now known as Brooklyn. With the expansion of Highway 99 in the 1930s, another divide was created in the neighborhood, disconnecting the residential neighborhoods from the river and the eastside industrial areas. 23
The Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood continued to grow as the empty lots once used for raising produce began to be filled with housing until around 1940, by which time most areas had been fully developed.24 After World War II, extensive changes began to occur in Portland’s neighborhoods as many residents began moving to the suburbs. Other than Ladd’s Addition which remained intact, Hosford-Abernethy was no exception to the redevelopment and deterioration of older structures in southeast Portland. While streets within Hosford-Abernethy to the west of 11th Avenue underwent a drastic change to a more commercial focus, Ladd’s Addition was able to maintain its original character, though many homes fell into disrepair over time.25
Planned route of the Mt. Hood Freeway.
In the 1960s, plans were developed for a proposed Mt. Hood Freeway, which would have meant the destruction of numerous homes along Hosford-Abernethy’s southern edge closest to Powell Boulevard.
Fortunately for many long time neighbors, this plan was shelved in 1974, partially as the result of Portland’s burgeoning neighborhood association movement, a movement in which the newly designated Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Development Association (HAND) played a key role.26
Aerial photo of 7 Corners (SE Division & SE Ladd & 20th) in the 1970s
Other organizations developed in the area like the Division Merchant’s Association, which seeks to make the neighborhood an attractive place to conduct business.28
Today the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood offers an eclectic mix of residential, commercial, and industrial activity. Throughout the neighborhood homeowners are renovating and remodeling their homes, often in a manner that restores their original character. In many cases, existing commercial structures are being altered in order to make them more attractive to prospective new tenants. There are still signs of the Italian influences in the neighborhood especially at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, which had a new sanctuary built in 1950, designed by architect Pietro Belluschi. This church is not only a place of worship but often serves as a meeting place for HAND residents to voice their concerns or perhaps attend a homemade pasta lunch or dinner. Transportation changes have led to the elimination of the streetcars once prevalent in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood. By the 1950s, busses began to crisscross the neighborhood at several points allowing neighbors to easily commute into downtown Portland.
While the Hosford-Abernethy name does seem somewhat unattached to the direct history of the neighborhood, today it provides an identity for current residents to connect with one another, therefore helping to unite the various parts of this otherwise physically divided neighborhood. Tibbetts, Ladd, and Stephens may be long gone, but without their efforts, Hosford-Abernethy may have never become the neighborhood that it is today.
Works Cited
Gould, Charles. “Portland Italians, 1880-1920.” Oregon Historical Quarterly 77 (1976) : 239-260.
Hogue, Kendra. 2001. Hosford-Abernethy a Neighborhood Profile: Community cherishes its version of la dolce vita. Oregonian, 9 September.
Labbe, John. Fares, Please! Those Portland Trolley Years. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton, 1980.
Oregon Historical Society. 2002. “Oregon History Project.” http://www.ohs.org/http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=00049EC4-1444-1E6E-891B80B0527200A7
ulson, Rod. n.d. Ladd’s Addition-Designed with Geometric balance in “Portland-Neighborhoods-Southeast,” Vertical File, Oregon Historical Society Research Library. Portland, OR. 1981. Services Research Division “1980 Neighborhood Information
__. 1987. Bureau of Planning “Report and Recommendation of the Planning Commission on the Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Action Plan.”
__. 1991. Bureau of Planning “Brooklyn Neighborhood Plan.”
__. 2001. Bureau of Planning “Hosford-Abernathy Neighborhood Association.” http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=27636; Internet.
Scrapbook 51, P. 155, Oregon Historical Society Research Library, n.d.
Snyder, Eugene, Portland Names and Neighborhoods: Their Historic Origins.
Portland: Binford and Mort, 1979.
Footnotes
1. Report and Recommendation of the Planning Commission on the Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Action Plan, City of Portland Bureau of Planning (1987), 3.
2. 1980 Neighborhood Information Profiles, City of Portland Services Research Division (1981), 356.
3. Scrapbook 51, Oregon Historical Society Research Library, 155.
4. City of Portland Bureau of Planning, Brooklyn Neighborhood Plan, 1991, 10.
5. Ibid.
6. Rod Paulson, Ladd’s Addition-Designed with Geometric balance, in “Portland-Neighborhoods-Southeast,” Vertical File, Oregon Historical Society Research Library, 1.
7. Ibid., 2.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., 4.
10. Eugene E. Snyder, Portland Names and Neighborhoods: Their Historic Origins, (Portland: Binford and Mort, 1979), 40.
11. Ibid., 41.
12. Ibid., 42.
13. Ibid.
14. Kendra Hogue, “Hosford-Abernethy a Neighborhood Profile: Community cherishes its version of la dolce vita,” Oregonian, 9 September 2001, H2.
15. Snyder, Portland Names and Neighborhoods, 42.
16. Ibid., 43.
17. Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Action Plan, 2.
18. Charles Gould, “Portland Italians, 1880-1920,” Oregon Historical Quarterly 77 (1976) : 250.
19. Ibid., 253,
20. Ibid., 256.
21. John T. Labbe, Fares, Please! Those Portland Trolley Years, (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton, 1980), 99.
22. Brooklyn Neighborhood Plan, 16.
23. Ibid., 18.
24. Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Action Plan, 3.
25. “Portland-Neighborhoods-Southeast,” Vertical File.
26. Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Action Plan, 3.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.