Q – Did Montavilla ever have streetcar service?
A – Montavilla was actually served by two separate lines, plus one very short-lived one. These routes were part of the expanding streetcar service east of the Willamette to provide transit for the Portland area’s rapidly growing population of the 1880s.
Montavilla’s first subdivision—and its namesake Mount Tabor Villa Addition—went on the market in 1889. Buyers probably assumed that rail service would soon arrive. After all, advertising for the Addition included a map that showed a streetcar line to and from downtown Portland on Villa Avenue (now NE Glisan Street) and going directly through the subdivision.
A streetcar line did not reach Montavilla until 1892. It was an extension of the City and Suburban Railway’s East Ankeny line to Montavilla. It traveled east on Glisan to what is now 82nd Avenue, but it did not go south through the Mt. Tabor Villa subdivision. Service began on July 26, 1892. The fare was then five cents for residents or property owners who had contributed to the construction, and ten cents for everyone else.
Streetcars can be powered in various ways. The type that came to Montavilla was electricity-powered and called a trolley. The name comes from the wheel that travels along an electrified overhead wire. The trolley collects electricity and transmits it down a pole to the car’s motor.
The Glisan car line had one problem. It was a bit of a hike for commuters living south of Stark. They did have rail service briefly after the Mt. Tabor & Eastern Railroad Company built a 2.5-mile track from the Mount Tabor terminal at 69th and Belmont to 102nd and Stark in Russellville. The service was available only in 1892 and 1893. The Oregonian of June 29, 1900, explained that the railway failed because Mt. Tabor’s steep incline made it too expensive to operate. The iron tracks were then removed and sold.
Montavilla’s south-of-Stark residents had to wait until 1900 for more convenient trolley service. Until then, traveling to downtown Portland meant either walking to Glisan Street or trudging up Mt. Tabor to the 69th Avenue terminal. In 1899, The Oregonian declared that Montavilla needed better trolley service and recommended that the City & Suburban Railway Company build an extension from Glisan to Stark along 80th Avenue (then known as Hibbard Street).
The railway company agreed to build an extension (called a spur) on 80th. To reduce costs, they took track from Glisan between 80th and 82nd and used this for part of the construction. (In 1911, operators extended the Glisan Street rail to NE 90th Avenue.) The 80th-Avenue spur opened in October 1900.
The new spur rail did not satisfy the south-of-Stark folks for long. In 1912, pressure mounted for easier access to downtown Portland. They wanted an extension of the Mount Tabor line, which then still ended at 69th and Belmont. On September 11, 1912, Father James B. Fitzpatrick told the Portland City Council the need was urgent. Hundreds of his parishioners, he said, had to walk great distances through mud and dust to get to a streetcar. The South Montavillans prevailed. In early December 1912, crews extended the Mount Tabor line from 69th Avenue to SE 88th Avenue and Yamhill. Property owners paid $14,000 for the extension, and the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company paid approximately the same amount.
In 1948, streetcar service ceased in Montavilla and other lines. Road crews covered rails with asphalt. Buses replaced trolleys. It was the end of Portland’s streetcar era. But if you look closely at the street on NE 80th between Glisan and Stark, you can detect where the tracks are buried. A small section of the rail used to be visible before the latest resurfacing of 80th Avenue.
Main article image “East Ankeny Line Streetcar.” Photo courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society
This is part of Montavilla History Questions Answered, a series of history related articles. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post.