St. Johns Heritage Association

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St. Johns Heritage Association

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The mission of the St. Johns Heritage Association is to both preserve and celebrate the history of our great community.

Meetings at the Peninsula Odd Fellows
Community Classroom
4830 N Lombard St
3rd Tuesday of every month @ 11am

10/18/2026

Another eBay find. We have shown these decorative plates from Couch & Co. before. This plate dates to 1909. Couch & Co. was one of the first businesses in St Johns. A combination grocery and furniture store, located at 206-208 Philadelphia, across from City Hall. This is now the location of the Marvel 29 building. Kindle C. Couch, owner of this business, was St John's mayor in 1907.

10/14/2026

Original 2.5 x 5.5 inch card in fair to good condition is how the eBay seller describes this circa 1908 campaign card. G.M. Hall was running for the Councilmen Ward 2 Position on the Citizens' Ticket. Of course the question on everyone's mind was how did he stand on the "Liquor Question"? He took the party stance, which was the citizens of St. Johns, at least those who were tax payers, should make the final decision.

10/11/2026

Portland Public Schools has announced proposals that would eliminate up to 14 schools, James John Elementary being one of them. We cannot say for certain when the last day for students will be if this downsizing is approved but we can shed some light on their very first day at James John. Wikipedia tells us that James John opened in 1929. Let's set the record strait on that date. James John Elementary School, a brick structure, replaced (Richard) Williams School, a wooden structure, in 1930.

Williams School, also known as Central-Williams School, burned down on Monday January 13, 1930 forcing James John School to open early on January 14, 1930. The school was not yet complete, had not expected to open until January 27th, the first day of the next term.

It was reported that 450 students, 11 teachers, and the principal were able to escape the morning four-alarm fire without injury. When the fire was first discovered the majority of students were at outdoor recess. Those students who were still inside the 16 room building were either on the first floor or in the basement. The school was emptied of all occupants in one minute and fifteen seconds according to the Harry P. Coffin, a member of the school board.

Unfortunately many of the early St Johns City records and those before it had been incorporated were thought to have been destroyed in the fire according to the school Principal C.E. Perry.

James Johns School photo source: University of Oregon

10/07/2026

Gil Parton had these two items in a folder. We believe they go together even though they were not labeled as such. The legend says this photo was taken for Mother's Day, which was observed on May 12, 1929 that year. The legend would appear to have been done some time after that as not everyone in Williams Grade School room B4 has been identified.

10/04/2026

Laura N Minkler wrote about the year 1911 in the January 2nd 1958 issue of the St Johns Review. Laura wrote about 1911 more than once, picking up on other events as they caught her attention.

In this 1958 article Laura noted that the city (meaning the City of St Johns) dock had not been well thought out. It needed improvements but had little to no public support because it had sat idle for so long. Only a wagon road connected with the dock. Not mentioned specifically but a rail line to transport large amounts of goods away from the dock was probably the only solution.

A 1200 percent increase in population occurred between 1901 and 1911. Taxable property was valued at $200,000 in 1901. Ten years later that number jumped up to $4,036,285. St Johns taxes were about 5 mills, which was 1 mill less than Portland.

It was noted that five miles of street improvements had been made. Also of note 20 miles of sewers were now in place. East St Johns was experiencing new interest, with smaller and smaller lots becoming the norm. Gone was rural St Johns, replaced by steady growth of the city in all directions. During this time buildings ranged in value from $100 to $3000, with the average price being $739.91.

09/30/2026

Who was Sitton School named after?

AI tells us that Sitton Elementary School in Portland, Oregon was named in honor of Charles E. Sitton, a prominent early civic figure and Portland School Board member. His wife, Relief Webber "Lefie" Sitton, was also heavily involved in the community as a former school teacher, pioneer, and president of the Waverly Baby Home.

Is that information correct? The Peninsula ODD Fellows, in their extensive research, have uncovered much more to the "who was Sitton School named after" mystery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkcMxqj7b1Y

Photo credit: David Scheer

09/27/2026

After St Johns was annexed to Portland in 1915 all the schools were renamed. North became Sitton, after one of the school board members. East became George for the same reason and Central became Williams. When Williams (Central) school burned in 1930 they decided to name the new school, which was almost complete at that time, after the founder of our community James John.

Our photograph is undated, but we know it had to of been taken between 1915 and 1930.

09/23/2026

Funding for the construction of the St. Johns Bridge passed on its second ballot measure attempt. Our newspaper clipping is from November 1926. The ballot measure that passed was presented to the voters in 1928.

During the initial proposal phase in the late 1920s, the project faced heavy skepticism from Multnomah County officials. Because the communities of St. Johns and Linnton were more than five miles from downtown Portland, local business owners lacked the political leverage to easily secure funding.

To win over the public, bridge advocates launched an extensive, grassroots lobbying campaign that included staging vaudeville-style promotional shows at schools and grange halls across the county. The efforts were successful: in the November 1928 election, county voters overwhelmingly approved a $4.25 million bond measure on its second attempt, allowing construction to begin the following year.

Source: Wikipedia ( with corrections )

09/20/2026

The Pioneer Methodist Church as it looked in 1966. Note the neon sign. This was the third Methodist church and the second physical location. The first church was located on the west end of Richmond near the bank of the Willamette. It had been constructed using the bottom on an abandoned boat in 1852. The second church was built on the same site in 1888. It was moved to the corner of Syracuse and Leavitt in 1904. That structure was sold in 1920 and converted into a residence. Their last church was built next to the library at Charleston and Edison.

The decision was made by the Oregon-Idaho Conference and local church leadership to close operations and dissolve the chartered congregation on June 30, 2021.

The congregation had faced a gradual decline in active membership and an aging demographic prior to and during the Covid-19 health crisis. Its operational overhead and property maintenance costs were not being offset by active giving from the remaining members.

Today this building is owned by the Montessori House of St Johns.

09/16/2026

On May 25, 1968 Senator Robert F. Kennedy visited St Johns as part of his campaign for presidency. Newspaper clipping from the St. Johns Review. Photographs taken that same day by Sharon Helgerson during another campaign stop at N. Williams and Killingsworth. ~ Thank you Beth & Peter for the date correction.~

Address

4834 N. Lombard Street
Portland, OR
97203

Website

http://www.stjohnsheritage.org/

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