Council Crest Park is a city park in southwest Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Amenities include paved and unpaved paths, a dog

off-leash area A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners. Description Dog parks have varying features, although they typically offer a 4' to 6' fence, separate double-gated ...

, picnic tables, public art, a view point, and a wedding site that can be reserved. The park, operated by

Portland Parks & Recreation Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) is a Bureau of the City of Portland, Oregon that manages the city parks, natural areas, recreational facilities, gardens, and trails. The properties, which occupy a total of more than . The bureau employs a total ...

, is open year-round from 5 a.m. to midnight. It was the site of an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

from 1907 until 1929.

Description and history

At above sea level, Council Crest is one of the highest points in the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills) that run parallel to the Willamette River in Portland, and is well known for its views of Portland and its environs. The hill was part of a

donation land claim The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

by John B. Talbot and was first known as ''Talbot Mountain''. Later, the hill became known as ''Glass Hill'' and then ''Fairmount'', the name of a road that encircles it. In 1898, delegates to the Triennial National Council of Congregational Churches met on the hill and decided to name it ''Council Crest''. A later assertion that Native Americans held councils on the summit remains unsupported by evidence. Streetcar service to the site began on September 20, 1906, when the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company (PRL&P) opened a newly constructed streetcar loop that extended the "Portland Heights" line (later renamed the "Council Crest" line) to the summit of the hill.Labbe, John T. (1980). ''Fares, Please! Those Portland Trolley Years''. Caldwell, Idaho (US): Caxton. . Soon after, in 1907, an

built by PRL&P was opened,Thompson, Richard M. (2006). ''Portland's Streetcars'', pp. 78, 113–114. Charleston, South Carolina (US): Arcadia Publishing. . and it featured a

merry-go-round A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

, miniature railway, Ferris wheel and other entertainments, served exclusively by the streetcar line. Named Council Crest Amusement Park, it closed in 1929, and the city acquired the property in 1937. By the time of the

Portland vice scandal The Portland vice scandal (sometimes called the vice clique scandal, the vice crusade in contemporary reports, or inaccurately the YMCA scandal) refers to the discovery in November 1912 of a gay male subculture in the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon. ...

, the hillsides of Council Crest were frequented for

gay cruising Cruising for sex, or cruising, is walking or driving about a locality, called a cruising ground, in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety. Published: 11-14-2007 Published: 9-21-2005 Article from NYT about a ...

. The amusement park's wooden observation tower was torn down in 1941 and replaced by a steel water-storage tower. Streetcar service ended on August 9, 1949, with the abandonment of the uppermost section of the Council Crest streetcar line, the service being cut back to the intersection of Vista Avenue and Patton Road.Thompson, Richard M. (2010). ''Portland's Streetcar Lines''. Arcadia Publishing. . Removal of the rails along the line's private right-of-way began the next day, and a road was then built along the former rail-only right-of-way. The line had been one of the most famous and scenic trolley lines in North America. (The remainder of the Council Crest line was abandoned six months later, on February 26, 1950, with the closure of the city's last three urban streetcar lines.) Today, the Council Crest neighborhood is served by TriMet Line 51, but the bus service does not reach Council Crest Park. One of the streetcars which had served the line, car 506, was on static display at Council Crest Park for more than 20 years, from November 1950Katauskas, Ted (2009). ''Portland: Yesterday & Today'', p. 59. Lincolnwood, Illinois (US): Publications International, Ltd. . until 1972, when it was removed after being damaged by vandals. It was later acquired by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society and is preserved at that group's museum. The former streetcar line is also memorialized by replica-vintage streetcars which provided the Portland Vintage Trolley heritage service from 1991 to 2013, and on the

Willamette Shore Trolley The Willamette Shore Trolley is a heritage railroad or heritage streetcar that operates along the west bank of the Willamette River between Portland and Lake Oswego in the U.S. state of Oregon. The right-of-way is owned by a group of local-are ...

line starting in 2014. The ends of these cars display the same slogan as was displayed by the streetcars serving the Council Crest line: ''See Portland from Council Crest''. Although the observation tower erected in 1907 was dismantled in 1941, the city later built an observation area in the park from which it is possible to see

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...

, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams,

Mount Hood Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about east-southeast of Portlan ...

, and Mount Jefferson in the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

. The peak encompassed by the park is commonly known as the highest point within the Portland City Limits, but there are higher points just inside the city limits along Skyline Drive in NW Portland (the elevation around 414 NW Skyline Blvd. is at approximately 1160' (355m)), although those locations do not have the publicly-accessible views offered by Council Crest Park.

References

External links

Council Crest
at PdxHistory.com – History of former amusement park, illustrated by vintage postcards {{Southwest Hills, Portland, Oregon 1937 establishments in Oregon History of Portland, Oregon Parks in Portland, Oregon Amusement parks in Oregon Protected areas established in 1937 Urban public parks Southwest Hills, Portland, Oregon

Description and history

See also

References

External links