Portland's Ladd's Addition

Way back when, Portland was actually three separate cities; Portland, East Portland and Albina.  In 1891 the three cities aware combined into a single city, and that same year, the Madison Street Bridge (now Hawthorne Bridge) opened.  These two events led to an eastside boom.

Also in 1891 , William Ladd and his wife Caroline Ladd filed the plat of Ladd's Addition, dividing the land into 32 blocks with 716 lots.    Bounded by SE Hawthorne and SE Division, SE 20th and SE 12th, Ladd's Addition remains one of Portland's closest neighborhoods to downtown and the central east side.

Photo courtesy of Oregon Historical Society.
Circa 1915

The neighborhood is distinct for its street layout, which was Ladd's own idea (against the advice of his surveyor).  Some say it was based on the layout of Washington DC, though there is no real evidence of that.  Aside from the layout, Ladd's Addition is unique for its five parks that interrupt the street layout, and for the service alleys.  The neighborhood is considered a monument to the City Beautiful movement.

The five parks were part of Portland's 1903 Olmstead Parks Plan (Olmstead, of New York's Central Park fame).  These parks are lushly gardened with roses (Portland is the Rose City after all), rhododendrons and azaleas.

As the neighborhood was built out, street tress were planted, (mostly elms, maples and lindens), making Ladd's Addition one of America's most treed neighborhoods.  Dutch elm disease has hit Ladd's Addition hard.  There is a community based tree inoculation program, and volunteers regularly plant trees to maintain the neighborhood's lush tree canopy.

It was thought the alleys of Ladd's Addition would lend it a tone of affluence.  There are few curb cuts on the main streets of Ladd's Addition, and many houses have garages accessed from the alley.  In addition, most utilities were run down the alleys, giving the streets a clean look.  Today, most residents park their cars in front of their houses, on the street.  The garages are most often used for storage.

As with many neighborhoods in Portland, Ladd's Addition originally had deed restrictions, excluding racial minorities (except as servants).  As those restrictions expired, some Asian American families moved in to the neighborhood, and in 1939 the Portland Realty Board informally designated Ladd's Addition as suitable for "oriental" families.  Seemingly African Americans and other minorities continued to be excluded by zoning or deed restrictions until the Fair Housing Act of 1968.  Other tactics continued racial discrimination in housing well past 1968.

Referenced above, the City Beautiful movement was an effort to introduce beautification and monumental grandeur in cities.  It was thought such beauty would lead to civic and moral virtue, creating social order through beautification.  Read more about that movement here.

Ladd's Addition was Portland's first residential historic district (1977), and in 1988 the Ladd's Addition Conservation District Guidelines were adopted, with rules and restrictions on changes to the street/garden system, new buildings and exterior rehabilitation of existing buildings.  These guidelines address preservation of sidewalk details and horse rings, park use, front and side yard visibility, parking strips, trees, and many restrictions on remodeling and new construction to keep properties consistent with the historic character of the neighborhood.

Horse ring in a Portland curb

Today, Ladd's Addition remains a very sought after neighborhood.  The combination of architecture, close-in proximity, superior access to public transportation and bike routes, and nearby amenities of the surrounding neighborhoods have Ladd's Addition at the top of many lists.

I'll soon have a listing in this fab neighborhood.  The house I'm listing is shown in the photograph above! Check back in about a week.

Thanks to the Oregon Encyclopedia ( a Project of the Oregon Historical Society) and the American Planning Association for their excellent information).