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General Neighborhood History
From Our Laurelhurst Wiki
elbositdrond
Contents |
[edit] Early History
Currently there is no record of the Laurelhurst area prior to the 1850s.
The land that would become the Laurelhurst neighborhood was the result of two Donation land claims.
[edit] Buying the Farm
In 1869, William S. Ladd began buying up the land that would eventually become Laurelhurst. It wasn't his plan to turn the land into a place for a rich community to be formed...at least not a community of people.
One portion of the land (320 acres) came from the purchase of Thomas Frazer's Hazelwood Farm in 1869.
After the 1869 purchase, other purchases were subsequently made in 1873 and 1876.
Ladd purchased another part of the area (a portion of Quinn's original claim) from Louis Marier.
This collection of properties became the Hazel Fern Farm (one of three farms owned completely by Ladd, who also owned 5 other farms with S.G. Reed).
Ladd died in 1893, likely marking the transition of the property from farming to residential use; though, like his son, William S. Ladd would have likely found both pressure from the surrounding neighborhoods (for such things as roads through the property) and skyrocketing land prices irresistable to the defeat of the farm.
During it's time as Hazel Fern Farm, the area appears to have been annexed by the City of Portland in two separate incidents. The first annexation - between 1891 and 1900 - appears to have taken in the majority of the area from what would become SE 41st Avenue all the way to the western border.
The remaining land was annexed between 1901 and 1910.
[edit] Farm in Flux
At some point, Mary Quinn, daughter of Terence Quinn, emerged to challenge the ownership of the area defined by her father's original claim. It had apparently been sold while she was a minor. The case made it all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court (37 Or. 261 (59 Pac. 457), 1899), where it was settled in favor of the Ladds, and deeded to John Wesley Ladd, William's youngest son.
An article in The Oregonian newspaper (November 9, 1906), indicated that initial platting of what was then called Ladd's Farm had been going on for several days. The first plat of Laurelhurst indicated that it was surveyed by "R.S. Greenleaf", so it's a good bet that's who was doing the surveying at this point.
William S. Ladd's estate was finally settled on May 26, 1908. The Ladd Estate Company was formed soon thereafter to manage the family's wide real estate holdings.
In 1909 the Hazel Fern Farm land was deeded to William S.'s son William M. Ladd, who then formed the Ladd Investment Company on March 19th of that same year.
On April 24th of 1909, the land was sold for $2,000,000.
On May 24th of that same year the Laurelhurst Company was incorporated expressly for developing the Hazel Fern Farm property. The name "Laurelhurst" was given as one of the founders of the Laurelhurst Company (Paul C. Murphy) had worked on the Laurelhurst neighborhood in Washington, and wanted to bring a similar vision to Portland.
[edit] Creating a Neighborhood
One of the first things the Laurelhurst Company did was to mortgage the land back to the Ladd Investment Company for $1,073,286.43 to fund the development and improvement of the land so that it would be ready to be inhabited by a "high class" community.
The Laurelhurst Company hired famed architectural firm of the Olmstead Brothers to design the neighborhood.
In all, 2,880 lots were platted in the Laurelhurst neighborhood.
The improvements panned by the Laurelhurst Company were extensive and included such things as: fully paved streets; water, sewer, and gas mains installed under the streets; 9' wide parking strips with 6' wide cement sidewalks; cluster lights (which no longer exist, if they were ever actually installed); and more than 2200 trees of between 12' and 18' in height ("that being the largest size it is practicable to transplant") planted every 30 feet in the parking strips.
Specific parts of the Laurelhurst land was put aside for other use besides residential housing. One area was set aside as a refuge home for women called (somewhat ironically) the Mann House. Another area was set aside for a neighborhood school; what would become Laurelhurst Elementary. Finally, 32 acres were set aside for Ladd Park, which would become Laurelhurst Park in 1912.
Laurelhurst was intended to be a high-class residence (in fact, reason number two listed in Thirty Reasons for investing in Laurelhurst was "It is high class"). As such, only single-family detached residences were allowed. No apartments or commercial buildings of any sort were allowed.
Further, there were minimums on the value of a house that could be built on a Laurelhurst property. These minimums ranged from $2000 to as much as $15,000, depending on the location of the property.
In keeping with the times, no making or selling of alcoholic beverages was allowed in Laurelhurst, and, sadly, also keeping with the times, no property could be sold to Chinese, Japanese, or black individuals.
During the initials sales of Laurelhurst lots, the Laurelhurst Company set up a sales office at the traffic roundabout at NE 39th Street and NE Glisan Street. This was, conveniently, a stopping point for the Montavilla streetcar line, which provided prospects aplenty to the eager sales person.
This first home to be built was at what is now 825 NE Hazelfern Place, and by 1910 almost half the lots had been sold (platting of the last three quadrants only having been completed that year).
By 1916 500 homes had been built in Laurelhurst, bringing the neighborhood population to about 2,500.
By the 1920s, the majority of the lots had been sold, so the sales office was removed. It was soon replaced by a small park (known as Coe Circle) containing a statue of Joan of Arc donated by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe.
By 1935 only 10% of the neighborhood remained vacant land.
While Laurelhurst represents a wide variety of houses from stately mansions, to more modest accomodations, the predominant style of house in the neighborhood is the bungalow style, of which there are estimated to be about 1,000 examples in Laurelhurst.
[edit] Related Links
[edit] Maps
Here are some historic maps of Laurelhurst.
[edit] More to Discover
There is much more information to discover about Laurelhurst in general, and the houses, people, and other items contained within it. This section outlines some of the sources named, but as yet untapped, in documents researched to date.
[edit] Document:Potential Historic Conservations Districts
In the bibliography are listed the following items, most of which have not be incorporated into this site:
- Portland, Oregon, Its History and Builders. Volume 1,2. The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1911.
- "Ladd Farm Sold for $2,000,000". The Oregonian.. April 24, 1909, p.12.
- Laurelhurst and its Park. Real estate brochure published by the Laurelhurst Company in 1916. An unbound, probably copied version of this exists at the Oregon Historical Society. Rumor has it that a version of this brochure is currently on sale at neighborhood association meetings.
- "Laurelhurst". Neighborhood History Project File. This may be this document already incorporated here: Document:Laurelhurst Graduate Project.
- The Shaping of a City: Business and Politics in Portland, Oregon 1885-1915, E. Kimark MacColl. The Georgian Press, 1976.
- Preservation Options for Portland Neighborhoods, Alfred M. Staehli, 1975. This information is already incorporated in this site.
- "Laurelhurst Area Offers Variety", Carla Thompson. The Oregon Journal, September 12, 1976, p.17.
Also listed are the following items said to be in the custody of the Oregon Historical Society:
- Abstract of Title to Lot 6, Block 64, Laurelhurst
- Articles or Incorporation for Ladd Estate Company
- Map File (There are some interesting maps on file, but they are not readily scanned)
- Portland Directories
- Sanborn Insurance Maps
- Vertical File (Many of the documents in use on this site come from the OHS vertical file)
Interestingly, Laurelhurst is listed, by name, in an 1874 listing of all of the additions to Portland. This would seem like a great deal of advanced planning for a neighborhood that wouldn't be officially formed for 35 more years.
This RootsWeb entry points to a document entitled "Elijah B. Davisons DLC. Abstract of Title - Laurelhurst Deed Records. Portland, Oregon: Title & Trust Co" in existence in the Multnomah County Archives in 1940.
