Our History
Settled in the 1860’s during the last few years of the Civil War, the area that today makes up the Woodlawn Historic District was just an outlying rural farming village. An unincorporated area considered part of Albina – even though we were outside what was considered the city of Albina. In 1880 the railroad running from Portland to Vancouver, WA, located a train station here and by 1890, we were finally plotted on the map as “Woodlawn”.
Our Mission
The Woodlawn Neighborhood Association helps to create and support a thriving environment for business and community by building partnerships, supporting sustainable growth, and creating opportunities for neighborhood fellowship.
Getting Involved
We have calendar full of opportunities to get involved and meet your neighbors. Our monthly meetings are open to everyone and we love seeing new faces and hearing from diverse voices. Do you have a question or concern? Are you interested in helping livability at the local level? Then, please join us – reach out via email, or come to one of our meetings. We would love to meet you!
Portland’s Woodlawn neighborhood has transformed from a small autonomous city at the end of the streetcar line to a large, firmly middle-class district of mostly midsized post–World War II homes and a few notable Victorian gingerbread-trimmed houses—former farmhouses that once sat on muddy streets. Woodlawn’s quirky angled streets remind residents of a time when the streetcar depot was a major feature of the city. Today an excellent bus service has replaced the streetcars, but most neighbors still enjoy the sounds of the trains at the bottom of the bluff bringing grain to the shipyards and the sweet fragrances wafting down from the cookie factory. The movie theater and firehouse are still standing, but both now serve different purposes. This is a neighborhood where new families are made welcome by the current ones, and where a new generation of volunteers is planning a vital and compassionate neighborhood.