By PATRICIA SANDERS
Views of 80th Avenue show the diversity of its buildings. Left to right: a 1900 house; a 1904 store; a former 1940 church.
Photo credits, left to right: Google maps; Jacob Loeb, “Montavilla News;” Thomas Tilton
If you have ever walked or driven on 80th Avenue between Glisan and Stark Streets, you may have noticed that it is different from most streets in Montavilla with its mix of building types: houses, businesses, and several places of worship.
Most streets in Montavilla, even today, are either residential or mostly commercial. Before 82nd Avenue was widened in 1934 and zoned commercial in 1937, most Montavilla businesses were located on SE Stark and NE Glisan Streets.
So 80th Avenue was the exception to the norms. Why?
The likely answer is the trolley line installed on 80th Avenue in 1900.
The 80th Avenue trolley extension spur
Montavilla had a transportation problem, according to The Oregonian. An article in the May 18, 1899 edition acknowledged that Montavilla had trolley service to downtown Portland on the North Mount Tabor branch of the East Ankeny trolley.
The problem was that the streetcars ran down Glisan Street (then Villa Avenue), which was not convenient for Montavillans living south of Stark. Their closest trolley line was atop Mount Tabor. If you have ever walked up Yamhill Street, you know this is truly a steep incline. The Oregonian declared it too steep for a trolley line extension, although the Mount Tabor line was extended to SE 88th Avenue and Yamhill in 1912. (For more on the Montavilla trolley line, see our previous story about the trolley.)
The Oregonian proposed a solution: build an extension spur on Hibbard Street (now 80th Avenue) from Villa Avenue (now Glisan Street) to Base Line Road (now Stark Street).
Hibbard Street was the original name for 80th Avenue, which appears in the 1891 Mount Tabor Villa Annex plat map. The name later changed to 80th Street, then finally to 80th Avenue. To avoid confusion from this point I will use current street names.
Mount Tabor Villa Annex plat map showing Hibbard Street (now 80th Avenue), running north to south between Villa Avenue (now NE Glisan Street) and Base Line Road (now SE Stark Street)
Early in 1900, Montavillans began a campaign for a trolley spur on 80th between Glisan and Stark. 80th was proposed because it was slightly wider than other nearby north-south streets. It was also near the end of the existing trolley line.
Norwegian-born tinsmith Theodore C. Throndsen (1862 – 1921) led the campaign. He asked 80th property owners to sign a petition asking Multnomah County authorities for permission to construct the extension spur. He collected ninety signatures and the project quickly moved forward.
The City and Surburban Railway Company began by removing a half-mile of track at the eastern end of the East Ankeny line on Glisan and laying this on 80th. To avoid obstructing horse and bicycle traffic, the County required the company to make the rails flush with the road.
The trolley extension was completed in October,1900. The Montavilla line was in operation until 1948, when electric-powered streetcars were replaced with electric-powered buses. Both were powered by electricity conveyed by overhead wires.
The Morning Oregonian, October 15, 1900.
Source: Historic Oregon Newspapers
This early 20th Century photo shows the termination of the East Ankeny trolley line spur at the corner of SE 80th and SE Stark Streets. Beyond the trolley car you can see a few businesses on either side of the street. The old Methodist Church is faintly visible further back on the right.
Photo courtesy of Heyward Stewart
The left photo shows the trolley tracks flush with the street. Next to the track is wood sawyer G. W. Farrier’s wagon and shop. Today this false-front building at 206 NE 80th Avenue is KB Cabinets.
Left photo source: Oregon Historical Society. Right photo by Thomas Tilton
When the trolleys went out of service, the tracks were paved over with asphalt. A line of cracks in the asphalt from Stark to Glisan Streets reveal the original location of the tracks.
Photo source: Google Maps
With the completion of the trolley spur in 1900, foot traffic on 80th increased, and it was obvious that the street and sidewalks needed improvement. These efforts moved slowly, partially due to neighborhood opposition to high costs. Concrete sidewalks were proposed for their durability, but cheaper wooden sidewalks were installed in 1906. Concrete sidewalks were finally laid in 1915 by the City of Portland. (See our previous story for more on Montavilla’s sidewalks.)
Stamps appear on 80th Avenue sidewalks installed by the City of Portland in 1915.
Photo by Thomas Tilton
Businesses on 80th Avenue
After the completion of the Montavilla trolley spur, new businesses, such as Mrs. Tolls shoe store, sprang up along 80th north of Stark.
Mrs. Tolls’ shoe store was one of several new stores located near the terminus of the new trolley spur.
Ad in the Beaver State Herald, November 30, 1906.
On July 5, 1910, a fire broke out in the building at the northwest corner of Stark and 80th. The fire swept to the west and to the north, destroying many buildings. Among the businesses on 80th demolished by the fire were Mrs. Tolls’ shoe store as well as a drugstore, a butcher shop, and a shoe repair shop. Most of these were re-established in new buildings erected shortly after the fire.
Fire-damaged buildings on Stark Street after the fire of July 5, 1910.
Source: Oregon Historical Society
One of the buildings erected shortly after the fire at SE 411 – 417 SE 80th Ave. still exists. A new concrete building at SE 411 – 417 SE 80th Ave. was built in 1910 to serve as a meat market. In 1920, it was a bakery and today it is the Montavilla Station tavern. The term “station” refers to the old trolley terminus at Stark Street.
1910 concrete building at SE 411 – 417 80th Ave. Today it is the Montavilla Station tavern.
Photo by Thomas Tilton
The Montavilla Hotel, a two-story wooden structure at 335 SE 80th Ave., survived the 1910 fire. Mrs. Adelaide E. Herman (1861 – 1941) managed the hotel from 1906 until about 1910. It continued as a hotel until around 1922 and is now an apartment house. (For more on the Montavilla Hotel, see our previous story.)
The Montavilla Hotel, built 1906, is now an apartment house.
Photo by Thomas Tilton
Ad for the Montavilla Hotel in the Beaver State Herald of November 16, 1906
An even earlier business along the trolley-spur route is the grocery store of Charles E. Blake (1839 – 1918) and his son Elmer Blake (1870 – 1932). It was built in 1903 at the corner of SE 80th and Pine Street.
Blake & Son’s grocery store ad in the Beaver State Herald of August 3, 1906
After remodeling in 2016 – 2017, the Blake’s & Son’s building became multifamily housing called The Barn.
The Barn at 245 SE 80th Avenue, formerly Blake & Son’s grocery store.
Back in those early days, if you needed hardware supplies, you could go to Albert Ehlers’ store. The two side-by-side buildings at 53 and 101 SE 80th Ave. survive, but they are now vacant.
Ad for the Albert Ehlers’ (1856 – 1913) hardware store in the Beaver State Herald of October 19, 1906.
53 and 101 SE 80th Ave., formerly Ehler’s hardware store.
Photo by Thomas Tilton
Besides retail and rental housing, early Montavilla also had a few professionals on 80th. Hiram M. Russ (1834 – 1920), for example, had his dental business in his home at NE 240 80th Ave. This was where Dr. Russ had a terrible accident in 1907.
Portland newspapers reported that on October 3, Dr. Russ was doing an experiment in his laboratory and the chemicals he was using exploded, shattering his right arm, which had to be amputated.
240 NE 80th Ave. home and dental office of Hiram M. Russ, scene of a terrible accident in 1907.
Photo source: Google maps
The 1930 dentist’s office of Dr. David Weber (1901 – 1984) was located at 404 SE 80th Ave. Today it is Tabor Village Wellness, a naturopathic medicine and acupuncture clinic.
404 SE 80th Avenue, formerly a dentist’s office, now Tabor Village Wellness.
Photo source: Google maps.
In 1927, undertaker Ratio (Ray) William Gable (1878 – 1939) needed a larger facility for his business. He found the right property at the southwest corner of NE 80th and Everett Street. Writing about the new funeral home, The Montavilla Times of May 5, 1927 highlighted the advantage of its easy access by both automobile and streetcar.
Gable’s 1927 funeral home was built in the popular Mission Style. It was remodeled in a more modern style after the Rose City Nazarene Church acquired the property in 2018.
Originally built as a funeral parlor, 225 NE 80th Ave. is now the Rose City Nazarene Church.
Photo by Thomas Tilton
80th Avenue has continued to attract businesses over the years. A lawn-care business built in 1949, for example, is today Arthur’s Automotive at the Corner of NE 80th and Couch Street.
Arthur’s Automotive at NE 80th and Couch.
Source: Google Maps
Other 80th businesses have vanished over the years. The General Fuel and Lumber Company, for example, once at the southeast corner of 80th and Burnside Street. Today it is the Mount Tabor View apartments.
Today this is Mount Tabor View Apartments, but in the 1930s it was a fuel and lumber yard.
Photo source: Google maps
Places of worship
Besides businesses, 80th was, and still is, home to several places of worship, an unusually substantial number for a single street in Montavilla.
The earliest one predates the trolley line. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Montavilla was erected at SE 80th and SE Pine in 1893. That building was replaced by the present one in 1947.
Left: detail of a 1904 photo showing the Methodist Episcopal Church of Montavilla in 1900 (source: Bud Holland Collection). Right: the 1947 Montavilla Methodist church today (photo by Thomas Tilton)
The Seventh Day Adventist Church was built at NE 80th and Everett Street in 1902. In 1952 it became the Montavilla Branch of Jehovah’s Witnesses and today it is the St. Gabriel Eritrean Orthodox Church.
Built as the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1902, this is now the St. Gabriel Eritrean Orthodox Church.
In 1942, a Christian Science Church was built at the corner of NE 80th and Flanders Street. Today the Colonial-style building is the Portland Center of Self-Realization Fellowship.
Architectural drawing for the former Christian Science Church at NE 80th and Flanders Street. The Colonial-style building was designed by the architectural firm Johnson, Wallwork and Dukehart. Today it is the Portland Center of Self-Realization Fellowship.
Photo source: The Oregonian, January 7, 1940
Other non-residential, non-commercial buildings
Two other types of non-residential buildings were built on 80th. One is the Montavilla Branch Library.
Montavilla’s first purpose-built branch library opened in 1935 at 211 SE 80th Ave. It was designed by renowned Portland architect Herman Brookman (1891 – 1973). Unfortunately, it closed in 1981 for budgetary reasons. It continued in use by the OSU Extension Service until 2003. Later it was extensively remodeled, including the addition of a second floor. Today it has no apparent use and is owned by an LLC.
211 SE 80th Avenue with the original Montavilla Branch Library (left) and today’s remodeled building (right).
Sources: Montavilla County Library and Google maps
Another example of a non-residential building no longer exists. The 1907 Portland Block book shows the Montavilla International Order of Odd Fellows (I. O. O. F.) 1902 hall at the southwest corner of NE 80th and Glisan. It replaced the previous I. O. O. F. building. The hall was used mainly for Odd Fellows’ activities, but sometimes for community meetings and events as well. In 1922, an addition to the original building doubled the hall’s size.
Left: The 1902 Montavilla I. O. O. F. lodge at the corner of NE 80th and Glisan in the 1907 Portland Block Book. Right: The enlarged I. O. O. F. hall; photo source The Sunday Oregonian, May 7, 1922)
Residences
Despite the many non-residential buildings on 80th Avenue, most buildings were and are housing.
Some of Montavilla’s earliest surviving homes are found on 80th. Five existing houses predate the 1900 trolley spur. The house at 240 NE 80th was built in 1884. This and the similar house at NE 76th Avenue are the oldest Montavilla houses I have located so far.
Houses built in 1884 at 240 NE 80th Avenue (left) and at 326 NE 76th Avenue (right).
Photo source: Google maps
The other houses on 80th Avenue represent an array of styles, from Victorian to modern.
Two 80th-Avenue Victorian house. Left: an 1892 house at 335 NE 80th Avenue. Right: an1899 house at 129 SE 80th Avenue.
Photos by Thomas Tilton
80th Avenue also has its share of Portland’s ubiquitous bungalows from the early 20th Century.
A bungalow at 117 NE 80th Avenue.
Photo source: Google maps
More recent houses include a Tudor Revival house and a few examples of more modern styles.
A 1931 Tudor Revival house at 225 SE 80th Avenue. This was the home of Ed Knott (1885 – 1967), a building contractor who supervised the construction of several buildings in Montavilla, including Grace Baptist Church on SE 76th Avenue.
Some of 80th Avenue’s older homes are being replaced by buildings in current styles.
Townhouses at 204, 148, and 142 NE 80th Avenue built from 2011 to 2013 are examples of current modes.
Photo source: Google maps
Conclusion
The variety of building types found on 80th Avenue between Stark and Glisan makes it unique among Montavilla streets. New houses and businesses indicate the street will continue to change, but the long-established pattern of mixed use seems destined to persist.
Sources
Richard Martin Thompson, Portland’s Streetcar Lines, Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010
Jacob Loeb, “New Business in Historic Building,” Montavilla News, May 30, 2020. This article gives a detailed history of 206 NE 80th Avenue.
Newspaper articles found in the University of Oregon’s Historical Oregon Newspapers website and Newsbank (online at the Multnomah County Library website)
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