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Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Association
Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Association
Welcome to Sullivan’s Gulch in Portland, OR!

  • Gulch History

    “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
    ― Ursula K. Le Guin

    Background Image: 1903 Portland, OR, Courtesy of Portland City Auditor's Historical Records - A2004-002.3573  : Henrichsen Panorama , AP/11647

​​Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

Sullivan's Gulch occupies the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, Watlala bands of the Chinook, the Tualatin Kalapuya and many other Indigenous nations of the Columbia River. We are here because of the sacrifices forced upon the ancestors of this place; it is important to honor their legacy, their lives, and their descendants. Do you know whose land you are on? Find out at https://native-land.ca 


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Sullivan's Gulch marker with Indigenous nations labeled

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Sullivan's Gulch marker with Indigenous nations and OpenStreetMaps labeled

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Sullivan's Gulch marker with Indigenous nations labeled and colored

View the interative Native Land Digital map

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Select Gulch History Articles

Below are select articles provided by Sullivan's Gulch historians:

The Long, Illustrious History of Sullivan’s Gulch ​by John Scott

​​The Long, Illustrious History of Sullivan’s Gulch

by John Scott

Timothy Sullivan, born in Ireland in 1805, seems to have traveled widely during his life. On January 8, 1841, while in Tasmania, he met the woman who would be his wife, Margaret. 

In January 1851, he arrived in East Portland and filed a Donation Land Claim for 320 acres. He was made a citizen of the United States on April 16, 1855 and received title to his claim at the same time. He built a cabin on the south edge of the gulch, which was in the northern part of his claim, near NE 19th Ave. 

The gulch of 1851 is not the Gulch of today. To begin with, it is now called Sullivan’s Gulch. Back then is was mainly a forest of fir trees with a beautiful stream running through it and an occasional waterfall. Cougars and bears lived in the forest, too. 

”Sullivan’s Spring“ was located near their cabin and became a popular site for picnickers. A mural depicting this bucolic scene appears on the outside back wall of the pub at 1700 NE Broadway. It was a project of Grace Academy, only one block away on NE 17th Avenue, that received a $5,000 grant from Confluence Project for public art projects in 2006. 

Sullivan died in 1865. His wife moved to Vancouver, Washington, and died in 1890. Their daughter Marie inherited the property. She joined the Sisters of Providence Order and upon her death in 1904, she left the property to the Order. 

The gulch often was prone to flooding, sometimes as far east as NE 16th. When the railroad came in 1881 the gulch was filled in to stop the flooding. As a result, land became available for an industrial zone and became the home for companies such as Doernbecker Furniture Factory and Hyster equipment manufacturing (located where Fred Meyer is today). 

Many old-timers may have heard their parents or grandparents talk about Train #17, which headed into Portland in mid-afternoon everyday bringing cargo from the East. It passed right through their play areas in the gulch with its whistle blowing. You can still hear the whistles blowing in the night as trains pass through Portland. 

As early as 1926 Portland's city planning commission began studying the feasibility of building a high-speed expressway through the gulch. The commission said, ”The plans as visualized contemplate an outgoing speedway on the right-hand side of the railroad tracks, an incoming lane on the left-hand side. The object would be to carry the speedway under all viaducts and to have only a few lateral streets, probably one every quarter or half mile to feed the through highway.“ The plans lay dormant until after World War II. 

During the Great Depression in the early 30’s Shantytowns sprung up in the gulch, and it brought with it the first ”Hoovervilles.” The biggest settlement was near Grand Avenue with another one just east of NE 21st Ave. They eventually merged. They were self-contained “villages” governed by an elected mayor who forbade any liquor in the Shantytown. In 1933, there were 333 men living in 131 shanties in Shantytown. 

The Dairy Cooperative Association provided daily deliveries of milk to the men. One of the mayor’s jobs was to make the rounds of nearby bakeries, grocery stores, and clothing stores to pickup donations. Portland Police Officer Howard, from Precinct #1, kept an eye on Shantytown and was helpful in making contacts for the mayor. 

As the Depression began to end, the men in Shantytown began to drift away to find jobs that were beginning to open up in the logging mills. The population dropped to 100, and the final end to Shantytown came in 1941 when the shanties were deserted. A fire burned to the ground what was left. 

After WWII ended, the plans for a freeway were revived in 1947 and won the approval of the state highway commission. The chairman of the commission was T. Harry Banfield. A campaign to have the name changed to ”Sullivan Gulch Pike“ failed.

A Brief History of Ben Holladay and Other Interesting Historical Persons, Dates, and Events ​​by Emily Young

​A Brief History of Ben Holladay and Other Interesting Historical Persons, Dates, and Eventsand Other Interesting Historical Persons, Dates, and Events

by Emily Young (2017)

Our Holladay Park was named after Ben Holladay (1819-1887) who planted the trees. Here is a history of Ben Holladay. 

By the spring of 1864, Ben Holladay had acquired a dominant portion of the stage, mail, and freighting business between the Missouri River and Salt Lake City. He controlled 2,670 miles of stage lines and was among the largest individual employers in the United States. Holladay sold his routes to Wells Fargo Express in 1866 for $1.5 million and moved to Oregon. He became involved in a competition to build a railroad south along the Willamette River. In 1868 ground was broken for routes along both the east and the west sides of the river. Holladay’s “Eastsiders” completed 20 miles of track before the competition, which subsequently sold out to him. Holladay won a federal subsidy and built the Oregon and California Railroad as far south as Roseburg before the Panic of 1873 financial crisis stopped the effort. In 1876 Henry Villard took over the railroad. At his peak, Holladay entertained lavishly and spent a great deal of money in an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate. In contrast to his youth growing up in a log cabin, by the age of 50 Holladay maintained mansions in Washington D.C., on the Hudson River in New York, and in Portland. He also kept an elaborate “cottage” at Seaside, Oregon. 

There are two wonderful books on Ben Holladay: 
  • Ben Holladay, the Stagecoach King: A Chapter in the Development of Transcontinental Transportation, 1940 & 1968 by 
    ​J. V. Frederick
  • The Saga of Ben Holladay: Giant of the Old West, 1959 by Ellis Lucia
There is also a wonderful exhibit about Ben Holladay in Seaside, Oregon at the Seaside Historical Society Museum.

Holladay must have had lots of influence since we have many significant properties named after him.
Legacy Holladay Park Medical Center (Emanuel), Holladay Park Post Office, Holladay Park Plaza, Holladay Park Church of God, and NE Holladay Street. Also, Sullivan’s Gulch tax properties are identified as Holladay Park Addition by the county and state.

Other interesting historical persons, dates, and events for Sullivan’s Gulch:
  • It is said Ben Holladay planted the first trees for Holliday Park in the 1880s. He also built two large hotels in the area where the park bearing his name is now located.
  • The oldest house is a surviving Victorian cottage on NE Weidler, built in 1886.
  • Holladay Park was commissioned by the Lloyd Corporation and Pacific Power & Light in 1964, and a concrete fountain featuring music and lights was installed in the park. Designed by Jack Stuhl, assisted by Ted Widing and Phillips Electrical, the musical fountain was a favorite gathering place for park visitors. It was replaced in 2000, in conjunction with a major renovation of the park, by a spouting fountain designed by Tim Clemen and Murase Associates. Holladay Park was made the official park of Sullivan’s Gulch in 2000. Pat Svenson was an important SG neighbor who made this happen. I knew Pat for many years and she was instrumental in helping with many issues in Sullivan’s Gulch. Her obituary is online, but it does not mention her neighborhood activities. (neighborhood activism does not appear often in obits) 
  • Three cast-bronze sculptures by artist Tad Savinar were added to the park as a percent-for-art project in 2000. Entitled Constellation, the project illustrates the connection between the personal front yard garden and the civic park garden through three distinct elements: a vase of cut flowers, an abstract molecule containing elements of a good neighborhood, and the figure of a home gardener, shears in hand. The objects in the molecule were selected by the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association and the gardener was modeled after Carolyn Marks, a longtime Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood activist.
  • First home demolitions in Sullivan’s Gulch and surrounding areas happened in the mid 1950s and 1960s and resulted in the many apartments we still see today.
  • Lloyd Center opens in 1960.
  • The Fontaine was built in 1963.
  • Holladay Park Plaza first phase construction in 1968.
  • SGNA Articles of Incorporation were filed with the city and state in 1980 to make Sullivan’s Gulch an official neighborhood with its own neighborhood association. Find it on the SGNA website under the Board menu about SGNA.​
  • Fred Meyer moved from the Hollywood District to Sullivan’s Gulch in the early 1990’s. The Fred Meyer store replaced the Hyster plant that was on the current property. Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association was very active and helped make the move more friendly by aggressively getting streets blocked at 28th so that racing through the neighborhood could not happen.

The History of Sullivan’s Gulch by William Elder

​The History of Sullivan’s Gulch

by William Elder (2006) ​with gratitude to the Oregon Historical Society

At the beginning of the 21st century residents of Portland have different perceptions of what Sullivan’s Gulch is when asked. For some it represents the gulch itself while for others it is a small and unique neighborhood. The truth is that both are correct. The modern day Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood is defined by NE 15th to the West, NE 28th to the East, NE Broadway to the North, and I-84 to the South, which runs through what is the gulch.

Sullivan’s Gulch has transformed itself many times since gaining its name when
Timothy Sullivan and his wife settled there in 1851. This was the same year that the city of Portland was officially founded. Timothy Sullivan was an immigrant from Ireland who had traveled to Tasmania. There he met his wife Margaret and they married before traveling to the United States. Once here in the U.S. they submitted a claim for land in what was an area well outside of early Portland’s city limits. Their total claim was for 320 acres, and was bound by the modern day streets of NE 18th, NE 28th, NE Halsey, and SE Stark. The gulch then was a dense fir forest like much of the area around Portland at that time and people of the period recalled how wild the wilderness was outside of Portland’s limits. (Snyder)

As Portland grew and the cities of East Portland and Albina were founded in 1870 and 1887 respectively, locals would travel to Sullivan’s Gulch as a picnic getaway.
Sullivan’s Gulch still had its fir forests even as the areas around had been cleared for farming and housing. Visitors who traveled up the gulch from the banks of the Willamette River would find a nice spot near the Sullivan’s cabin where they could spend the day. At this site, where present day NE 19th would meet the southern slope of the gulch, there was a small waterfall referred to as Sullivan’s Spring, and a pond. (Journal 1950) At times when the Willamette River would flood, the water would back up into Sullivan’s Gulch to what is now NE 15th. When the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co built its railroad through the gulch in 1881 the lower part was filled in to prevent flooding. 

In 1871 George Weidler, John H. Mitchell, and Samuel M. Smith platted the Holladay’s Addition named after Ben Holladay who they were associates of. This was the area just north of Sullivan’s Gulch. Just a few years later Irvington would be platted and the two neighborhoods would grow with a small commercial area between them on NE Broadway. (Staehli 1975) The remainder of the 19th century would show development in the Holladay’s Addition, but the influx of new residents brought into Portland by the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition ensured large-scale commitment to development in the neighborhood. This was a time of prosperity in Portland and followed the unification of the cities of East Portland and Albina with Portland in 1891. As the city experienced one of its largest building booms, trolley lines and bridges expanded to service the East Side of Portland. (Abbott 1981)

Holliday’s Addition began to fill with large homes to accommodate many upper class and wealthy residents that sought some distance from the central city. This was made possible by the streetcars that served the suburbs of Holliday’s Addition and Irvington. One line ran down Multnomah St. from Grand Ave. and turned north on NE 15th, while another ran down NE Broadway to NE 22th where it too turned northbound. Like our modem-day suburbs, Holliday’s Addition had pockets of homes surrounded by blocks of undeveloped land. This would not last for long as the area continued to attract residents. Holladay’s Addition continued to prosper during the early 20th century, and with the growth in use of the automobile, NE Broadway was widened. Eliminating the tree-lined parking strip in order to accommodate the additional traffic transformed the appearance of the street. The neighborhood went from sleepy storefronts and homes to a bustling commercial strip.

It was around this time that people first proposed putting a road through the gulch. In 1927 a letter to the Oregon Journal stated that a road would be much better than ponds for boys to drown in, but Sullivan’s Gulch would survive a little longer before the building of the freeway in 1955.

While NE Broadway was a hub of activity, the gulch was still largely undeveloped and rural in appearance. George Hoerner recalled seeing the boy drown that was referred to in the letter to the Oregon Journal. He also can remember the good time that he and his friends had as boys in the gulch. They would play in the pond and roam trails around the gulch, all against their parent’s wishes. (Oregon Journal 1957)

Bob Frazier was another boy who lived in the neighborhood at this time. Some of his fondest memories were of the No. 17 train that ran through the gulch or using his air gun to try and shoot one of the many pheasants that made the gulch home. Like Hoener, he too recalls the ponds that were in the gulch. Frazier also remembered some of the trees that grew in the gulch that he and his friends would use to hang rope swings from. (Sunday Journal Magazine 1952)

Sullivan’s Gulch offered children a source of recreation, even as the city grew up around them. In many Ways residents had the best of both worlds; the amenities that NE Broadway provided with the access to downtown and open space that the gulch provided as a retreat from development.

The Great Depression would change the role Sullivan’s Gulch had for the community. Like many cities in America, Portland would get its own shantytown or “Hooverville” as they were mockingly referred to as. These communities rose out of a need for housing by those who had been evicted from their residences or were unable to find any employment during the Depression. The Shantytown in Portland was located from under the NE Grand viaduct to a little past the NE 21st viaduct. Although it was made up of makeshift shelters, Shantytown had its own mayor, board of commissioners, and single phone connection. With a population of 333 people the leaders were responsible for enforcing a no-liquor policy and working with local businesses that wanted to donate food and clothing to the residents. In May of 1933 Shantytown’s population had declined to around 140 individuals as many had moved on or found employment through the networks created in the community. (Oregonian 1933) The end of Shantytown came in 1941 when what was left of the community burned down.

By the end of World War II, America had become a mobile society centered on 
the automobile. To meet this need for mobility and the expanding city limits, Portland looked to plans that had been considered by the Highway Commission in 1926. With the completion of the Banfield Freeway in 1955, Sullivan’s Gulch was transformed forever. The open space that George Hoemer and Bob Frazier had enjoyed as kids made the project that much easier to accomplish. In 1946 The City Club of Portland issued a full report on the advantages of building a highway through the gulch. Reasons cited were its limited development, topography, and a pre-existing rail line. The estimated costs were $8.75 Million. (City Club of Portland 1946) In the end the final costs for the 14-mile freeway would total $15.5 Million. (Oregon Journal 1957) No longer would kids play in the gulch or golfers use the Lloyd golf course that was located between NE 12th and NE 21st. Instead people would soon have a new destination in the area.

In 1905 Ralph B. Lloyd came to Portland and shortly after bought his first piece of land in Holliday’s Addition. After returning to Portland in the 1920’s from a business opportunity in California, Lloyd again started to buy up land in Holliday’s Addition. In 1930 Lloyd announced he was going to build a 24-story hotel in the area, but the Great Depression put a halt to his plans. Over the next two decades the area would be transformed from neighborhood to business district. Lloyd died in 1952 before seeing his dream of a hotel being built on his land. The Sheraton Hotel (now the Doubletree) opened in 1957, shortly after the Banfield was completed. (Oregonian 1975) From 1958 to 1960 work progressed on The Lloyd Center mall and when it finally opened it was billed as the largest shopping center in the world. (Oregonian 1999) Local residents and the rest of Portland now had a modern freeway, hotel, and mall all next to what would soon become the Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood. Another draw to the community before the completion of Tom McCall Waterfront Park was the Rose Festival amusement rides that were located in what is now the Lloyd Center Cinemas parking lot.

In 1979 a few residents of the area got together and with the help of the Office of Neighborhood Associations created the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association. The creation of the association gave the community a sense of identity and gained great participation from residents. (SGNA 1999) Today Sullivan’s Gulch is a unique mix of businesses, apartments, single family historic homes, and some high-rise condominiums. All combine to create one of the most diverse communities in Portland. It is certainly a sight that Timothy Sullivan could never have imagined back in 1851 but a place that he would definitely be proud to call home.
 
Sources
  1.  Abbott, Carl. The Great Extravaganza. Portland OR: Oregon Historical Society, 1981tt, Carl. The Great Extravaganza. Portland OR: Oregon Historical Society, 1981tt, Carl. The Great Extravaganza. Portland OR: Oregon Historical Society, 1981tt, Carl. The Great Extravaganza. Portland OR: Oregon Historical Society, 1981
  2. City Club of Portland. “Sullivan’s Gulch Highway Project” 1946
  3. Frazier, Bob. Column. Sunday Journal Magazine 27 January 1952
  4. “Lloyd Center sprang from 100 years of dreams” Oregonian 27 July 1975
  5. Snyder, Eugene. We Claimed This Land: Portland Pioneer Settlers. Portland OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1989.
  6. Staehli, Alfred. Preservation Options For Portland Neighborhoods. Portland OR: Alfred Staehli AIA, 1975
  7. “How Gulch Got Name” Column. Oregon Journal 26 February 1950
  8. “Mayor of Shantytown Happy as Men Pack Up and Leave for ‘somewhere’” Oregonian 11 May 1933
  9. “Old Sullivan’s Gulch Is Gone — But Memories Linger On” Column. Oregon Journal 24 November 1957 
  10. “On one city block, Portland’s past and future meet” Oregonian 23 August 1999
  11. “Our Banfield Cost $1,000,000 a Mile” Oregon Journal 24 November 1957
  12. “Shantytown Takes Stride Ahead Under Guiding Hand of New Mayor” Oregonian 27 February 1933
  13. Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association. “History” Swenson, Dr. Patricia L. 30 March 1999, http://WWW.sulivansgulch.orgy” Swenson, Dr. Patricia L. 30 March 1999, http://WWW.sulivansgulch.orgy” Swenson, Dr. Patricia L. 30 March 1999, http://WWW.sulivansgulch.orgy” Swenson, Dr. Patricia L. 30 March 1999, http://WWW.sulivansgulch.org


1903 view of Sullivan's Gulch Courtesy of Portland City Auditor's Historical Records
1903 view of Sullivan's Gulch Courtesy of Portland City Auditor's Historical Records

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