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About St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 2016)
Page 8 * The ST JOHNS REVIEW * #6 March 25, 2016 * Email: reviewnewspaper@gmail.com * Mail: PO Box 83068, Port. OR 97283 * Web: www.stjohnsreview.com * Phone: 503-283-5086 The Cut Part I continued from Page 1 By Jim Speirs for the residents of North Port- land to stop and ponder certain idiosyncrasies and anomalies that have become such odd parts of our landscape. The genesis of the Cut may have been born during the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition. I say may because political activities in 1905 were much easier to conceal than they are in today’s world because scrutiny of activities was much less, and records often were con- veniently lost. During the hugely success- ful world-class Lewis and Clark Expo, all of Portland became a stage that was visited by Amer- icans and royalty from the four corners of the globe. Vast numbers of famous and wealthy dignitar- ies were housed in the Portland area. They traveled throughout the community to enjoy the centen- nial events, picturesque beauty of the area, and to explore business opportunities that might be avail- able in proximity to the Lewis and Clark celebrations. One of the most fascinating and talked about discoveries was the enormous vi- brancy and potential of a city near Portland. Its name was St. Johns. St. Johns in the early 1900’s was one of the most desirable places a person could live. The community, which was never clearly dei ned geographically, kept expanding and moving its borders east, as neighborhoods like Portsmouth and Kenton clamored to be in- cluded in the burgeoning econom- ic growth and spirit of St. Johns. Its houses were beautiful and its streets were lined in perfect order, and it had a commerce center that was very provincial and self-serv- ing. The city of St. Johns was “the” place to reside. Travelers to the Lewis and Clark Exposition had taken notice of these attributes, and increasing- ly so had the city of Portland. St. Johns had its own College, rivers that buttressed both sides of the peninsula insuring robust com- mercial expansion, and a local leadership that was very protective of the jewel that was their prosper- ous and growing community. The future of St. Johns was clear and with its ever expanding suc- cess and growth, the city of Port- land began to cast its eyes on the smaller neighbor to its north and by the early 1900’s the ugly word “annexation” had become the sin- ister siren call from Portland to St. Johns. As the city of Portland saw (and envied) the economic machine that St. Johns was becoming, there came a cacophony of voices from Portland that would eventually seal the fate of the proud and in- dependent city of St. Johns. The larger city was greedy and saw some of the most talented and en- trepreneurial people and industries choosing to locate in St. Johns at the expense of Portland. Political in-i ghting, backstab- bing and closed-door deal making became the order of the day. One of the enticements for St. Johns was the suggestion that Portland would use its much larger political clout to bring money to St. Johns for a bridge over the Willamette River. At the time, there was only the ferry to facilitate business over the river, and the addition of a bridge would greatly help St. Johns livability. Many of the newspapers of the day were i lled with articles that addressed the an- nexation issue. An example comes from the St. Johns Review – the newly formed newspaper which was “the” paper in North Portland and rivaled both the Oregonian and the Oregon Journal in infl uence and power. In a September 4, 1908 Review, the headline read: “ANNEX- ATION FOLLY AGAIN.” The subtitle saying, “Nothing to be Gained and Much to be Lost by Such a Move at this Stage of the Game.” The article concluded with: “St. Johns is the most de- sirable suburb about Portland, will be one of the biggest revenue getters to the big city when she be- comes a part of the big corpora- tion, as she will someday perhaps. But we do not want to go into the big city now, when there is not a single good thing to be gained and a big lot of things that are very undesirable that be fastened upon us.” (The style of writing in those days certainly was baroque.) St. Johns feared annexation and had a dire, yet clear idea of what incorporation with Portland would mean for the stubbornly indepen- dent and successful St. Johns. An- other statement from the St. Johns Review said: “To go into Portland Picture of the Week This picture, taken by Marshall Snyder gives a unique perspective of the bridge through time lapse pho- tography. Very unique. The MASTHEAD in this issue was taken by Melissa Bartoszewski and of course makes us all long for all the spring fl owers to be in full bloom. Send your lovely and/or unique pictures of the bridge (that you’ve taken yourself,) today to perhaps see them in the April 8, 2016 issue of the Review. See page 2 for full details. SEND YOUR PHOTO OF THE ST. JOHNS BRIDGE TO: reviewnewspaper@gmail.com in high resolution jpeg. marshall@magempdx.com will set St. Johns back ten or fi f- teen years, and the very ones who are agitating the change will curse bitterly the hour they ever put their fi ngers into the matter. This is par- ticularly true of those who have property interests.” So, the stage was set, the caul- dron was agitated and St. Johns and Portland continued on a col- lision course with the wheels of intrigue and manipulation spun at a frantic pace. For Portland, one of the ways to lessen the growing re- sistance to annexation was to cre- ate divisions within the city of St. Johns – divide and conquer, as the saying goes. The i erce opposition to annex- ation forced the city of Portland to seek out partners that might be able to assist in the dissection of the prosperous, proud and inde- pendent city of St. Johns, and that “aiding and abetting” came from a very powerful source - the U.S. Railroad industry. Part II continued in the April 8, 2016 issue. Like to write? Enjoy telling a story? Want to share news about what is happening in the community? If so, you could be a contributing reporter for the Review. Have questions? Contact the Review at reviewnewspaper@gmail.com