Laurelhurst, Portland, Oregon

Laurelhurst is a neighborhood of vintage homes and undulating streets surrounding a park of the same name, straddling the NE and SE sections of Portland. Stone markers flank the entrances to the area. The center of the neighborhood, Coe Circle, contains a gilded equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, which is a World War I war memorial. The Laurelhurst Historic District was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.[2]

Laurelhurst
Neighborhood
The equestrian statue of Joan of Arc in Coe Circle, Laurelhurst
The equestrian statue of Joan of Arc in Coe Circle, Laurelhurst
Location in Portland
Coordinates: 45°31′38″N 122°37′23″WPDF map
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CityPortland
Government
 • AssociationLaurelhurst Neighborhood Association
 • CoalitionSoutheast Uplift Neighborhood Program
Area
 • Total0.67 sq mi (1.73 km2)
Population
 (2000)[1]
 • Total4,549
 • Density6,800/sq mi (2,600/km2)
Housing
[1]
 • No. of households1,765
 • Occupancy rate97% occupied
 • Owner-occupied1,615 households (92%)
 • Renting150 households (8%)
 • Avg. household size2.58 persons

History
One of the arches from 1910: this one at NE 33rd and Peerless Place.

In 1909, the Ladd Estate Company sold its 462-acre (1.87 km2) Hazelfern Farm to the Laurelhurst Company for approximately $2 million. The name Laurelhurst was borrowed from a residential development in Seattle that Laurelhurst Company general manager Paul Murphy had recently completed. The name combined a reference to the laurel shrubbery near the Seattle development with the Old English hurst, denoting a wooded hill.[3] The Laurelhurst Company platted a residential development of 144 acres (0.58 km2) with the help of co-investor and landscape architect John Charles Olmsted. As the first houses were being built, the city purchased 31 acres (130,000 m2) for $92,000 to construct Laurelhurst Park. Advertised as a "High Class Residence Park," the Laurelhurst Company placed numerous restrictions on the neighborhood. Similar to the Ladd's Addition development, the sale of alcohol was prohibited. Additionally, there were to be no apartments, hotels, motels, flats, stables, or commercial buildings, and no homes were to be sold to Chinese, Japanese, or African Americans.[4]

The Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association (LNA) met as massive changes to Portland's transportation options were discussed in the 1970s, which led to the creation of Trimet MAX Light Rail in the 1980s. LNA and the community endorsed light rail being placed in the Banfield corridor, but was strongly opposed to alignment along the Burnside corridor, either a busway or light rail. A 1978 petition submitted by 34 neighbors objected "to any parking, widening, or lane changes on East Burnside Street in the Laurelhurst area now or in the future", calling it "a serious threat" to the neighborhood, that would lower property values, and be "a definite threat to our daily living pattern and destroy our neighborhood." The Portland-wide study noted a requirement to minimize projects "specifically in the Laurelhurst area".[5] KXL-FM reported proximity to Laurelhurst Park was a selling point for realtors in this neighborhood until the homeless camp situation.[6]

Redlining and racial covenant

In 1913 a racial covenant governing development of Laurelhurst mandated "...nor shall the same or any part thereof be in any manner used or occupied by Chinese, Japanese or negroes, except that persons of said races may be employed as servants by residents."[7]

A 1934 redlining map of Portland assigned the areas within current Laurelhurst boundaries with a blue grade, or "Still Desirable." Regarding the B19 tract, mapmakers noted "homogenous surroundings, improvements, and population" as among the neighborhood's favorable influences and called the subdivision's origins "a well conceived promotion, honestly administered"; regarding inhabitants, no foreign-born or Black inhabitants were reported.[8]

Neighborhood quality of life

The official neighborhood representative Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association sought to prevent homeless camps within 1,000 feet (300 m) of schools, parks and where children congregate and further proposing that those who camp in this area be fined up to $100 or sent to jail for up to 30 days.[9] Its members also vocally opposed development in the neighborhood to increase housing availability.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Demographics (2000)
  2. Redden, Jim (April 14, 2019). "Laurelhurst named to National Register of Historic Places". Portland Tribune. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  3. Snyder, Eugene E. (1979). Portland Names and Neighborhoods. Portland: Binford and Mort. p. 45. ISBN 978-0832303470.
  4. MacColl, E. Kimbark (1979). The Growth of a City: Power and Politics in Portland, Oregon 1915-1950. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press. ISBN 0-9603408-1-5.
  5. "Banfield Transitway Project, Multnomah County: Hearing and Project Report". TriMet/ODOT. 1978. pp. A-11, 72, 133. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  6. "Property Owners In Laurelhurst Can't Sell Due To Homeless Campers". KXL-FM. May 12, 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  7. Njus, Elliot (May 22, 2018). "Racist restrictions linger in property deeds, and Portland historians want help finding them". oregonlive. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  8. "Mapping Inequality". dsl.richmond.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  9. Harbarger, Molly (July 14, 2017). "Laurelhurst neighborhood asks city to ban homeless camping near parks, schools". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  10. Jaywork, Casey (January 29, 2018). "Three cities, one housing crisis". Cascadia Magazine. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  11. Monahan, Rachel (June 21, 2017). "Portland's Laurelhurst Neighborhood Fights to Keep the Housing Crisis Out". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
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