South Portland is a long, narrow neighborhood just south of
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, hemmed in between the
Willamette River
The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...
and the
West Hills. It stretches from
I-405 and the
Marquam Bridge
The Marquam Bridge is a double-deck, steel-truss cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 5 traffic across the Willamette River from south of downtown Portland, Oregon, on the west side to the industrial area of inner Southeast on the east. ...
on the north, to SW Canby St. and the
Sellwood Bridge
The Sellwood Bridge is a deck arch bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The current bridge opened in 2016 and replaced a 1925 span that had carried the same name. The original bridge was Portland's first ...
in the south. The Willamette forms the eastern boundary, and SW Barbur Blvd. most of the western boundary. In addition to Downtown to the north, other bordering neighborhoods are
Southwest Hills,
Homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
*Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...
,
Hillsdale, and
South Burlingame to the west, and
Hosford-Abernethy,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and
Sellwood-Moreland across the river on the east.
The neighborhood, formerly known as Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill or CTLH, changed its name at a meeting of its neighborhood association on September 6, 2006 to be more concise and inclusive. South Portland was the name of a 19th-century community that overlapped the present day neighborhood.
Areas
The neighborhood is a collection of very different areas.
*
South Waterfront
The South Waterfront is a high-rise district under construction on former brownfield industrial land in the South Portland neighborhood south of downtown Portland, Oregon, U.S. It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the Unite ...
. The northeastern part of the neighborhood is the site of a large-scale, high-density district currently under construction. The
Portland Aerial Tram
The Portland Aerial Tram or OHSU Tram is an aerial tramway in Portland, Oregon, that connects the city's South Waterfront district and the main Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) campus, located in the Homestead, Portland, Oregon, Marquam H ...
links the district to the
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a
public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Medi ...
campus in the
Homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
*Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...
neighborhood to the west, across
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...
. The
Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge
The Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge, more formally known as the US Congresswoman Darlene Hooley Pedestrian Bridge at Gibbs Street, is an approximately pedestrian bridge in Portland, Oregon, United States, which opened on July 14, 2012. It connect ...
connects South Waterfront to Lair Hill.
*Lair Hill is in the northwestern part of the neighborhood, bordered by I-405 on the north, SW Barbur Blvd. on the south and west, and
SW Naito Parkway on the east. It is named after a person, not a hill: the lawyer, author, and editor
William Lair Hill
William Lair Hill (August 20, 1838 – February 24, 1924), also referred to as W. Lair Hill, was an American attorney, historian, and newspaper editor in Portland, Oregon. He worked to codify Oregon's and Washington's laws. He briefly owned prop ...
. This area was part of historical South Portland, a district of Italian, Irish, and Jewish immigrants much of which was demolished by an "urban renewal" project in 1958.
Vestiges remain in the form of synagogues and ethnic shops.
*Corbett. The Corbett area (and SW Corbett Ave running north–south through the entire neighborhood) takes its name from Senator
Henry Winslow Corbett
Henry Winslow Corbett (February 18, 1827March 31, 1903) was an American businessman, politician, civic benefactor, and philanthropist in the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he spent his early life in the East and New York (state), ...
. It lies south of Lair Hill, bounded by I-405 on the north, SW Naito Parkway on the west, SW Macadam Ave. on the east. Its southern boundary is marked by the SW Corbett St. bridge over I-5. (This area of Portland should not be confused with the unincorporated community of
Corbett, Oregon
Corbett is an unincorporated community on the Columbia River in eastern Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the Historic Columbia River Highway (a.k.a. Crown Point Highway) between the Sandy River and Crown Point.
Corbett ...
in eastern Multnomah County.)
*Terwilliger lies south of Corbett, between SW Barbur Blvd. and SW Macadam Ave, straddling
Terwilliger Boulevard
Terwilliger Boulevard is a street in Portland, Oregon, U.S. It begins at SW 6th Avenue and SW Sheridan Street south of Portland State University. It passes through the neighborhoods of Marquam Hill, Southwest Hills, and Burlingame and by Lewis ...
. The area takes its name from the old Terwilliger Park subdivision, served by the Terwil station on the
Oregon Electric Railway
The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland to Eugene. Service from Portland to Salem began in January 1908. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway purchased the system in ...
.
*John's Landing. According to ''
Oregon Geographic Names
''Oregon Geographic Names'' is a compilation of the origin and meaning of place names in the U.S. state of Oregon, published by the Oregon Historical Society. The book was originally published in 1928. It was compiled and edited by Lewis A. McArth ...
'', the name refers to the B. P. John Furniture company, the largest of many manufacturers in the area in its industrial past, as well as architect John W. Storrs and John D. Gray, who privately transformed the area into a riverside residential and commercial development. The area used to be known as Fulton. More information is available on th
John's Landingwebpage.
Historic district
Parts of the Lair Hill and Corbett areas are regulated to protect the historic significance of South Portland Historic District. Bounded roughly by SW Arthur, Front, Grover, Hood, and Curry Streets and SW Barbur Boulevard, it was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on July 31, 1998.
Parks
*
Butterfly Park
Butterfly Park is a city park of about in Portland, Oregon, Portland, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located at 7720 South Macadam Avenue, the park includes a natural area and walking paths near the Willamette River. The natural area provides impo ...
- 7720 SW Macadam Ave.
*
Caruthers Park
Caruthers Park, officially Elizabeth Caruthers Park, is a park located in South Waterfront, Portland, Oregon. Acquired in 2009, the park is named after Oregon pioneer Elizabeth Caruthers. The park includes a bocce court, public art, "splash pad", ...
*Cottonwood Bay - SW Hamilton Ct. (off Landing Dr.)
*
Duniway Park - SW 6th Ave & Sheridan St. Formerly a garbage dump, then landfilled and used for track and field by
Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...
and the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
in 1979.
*Front & Curry Community Garden - SW Naito Pkwy & Curry St.
*Heritage Tree Park - SW Corbett Ave & Lane St.
*
Lair Hill Park - SW 2nd Ave & Woods St.
*SW Terwilliger Blvd. Parkway - SW 6th Ave - Sheridan St to Slavin St.
*Water & Gibbs Community Garden - SW Water Ave & Gibbs St.
*
Willamette Park - SW Macadam Ave & Nebraska St.
See also
*
Zidell Yards
Zidell Yards is a former industrial waterfront in Portland, Oregon's South Portland neighborhood, owned by Zidell Companies and planned for development.
The Lot at Zidell Yards
The Lot at Zidell Yards is slated to host outdoor events during the ...
References
External links
Corbett, Terwilliger, and Lair Hill Policy Plan(City of Portland, 1977)
Lair Hill Historic Conservation District Design Guidelines(Bureau of Planning, 1980)
*"Goodbye Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill, hello South Portland" (Lee Perlman, ''Multnomah Village Post'', October 2006, p. 5)
South Portland Street Tree Inventory Report
{{Portland neighborhoods
Neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon