​​​​For thousands of years, Chinook and other Native peoples lived on and travelled through land that is now Southeast Portland and the area around Mt. Tabor.  Archeologist Ken Ames offers an idea of what those times were like in an article he wrote in 2001 for the MTNA Newsletter, "Imaging Mt. Tabor 300 years ago." 

 

White settlement began in the area in the 1800s. In 1846 a huge fire burned the landscape from Lents all the way to the Columbia River, including Mt. Tabor. After the fire, trails and farmhouses began to appear around Mt Tabor. You can read more about the early settlement in the area and how Mt. Tabor got its name in a two-part series that ran in the Oregon Journal in 1957, "Mount Tabor Had Gold Rush." 

 

Mt. Tabor Park was developed around the water system reservoirs that were built on Mt Tabor in the late 1890s. In 1903, John C. Olmstead submitted a report to the Portland Park Board that the City acquire "considerable land on this prominent and beautiful hill" known as Mt. Tabor. In 1905, the City of Portland annexed the Mt Tabor area. You can learn more about the history of the development of Mt. Tabor Park in the fascinating document, "A timeline of some significant events in the life and times of Mt. Tabor Park," developed by Mt. Tabor residents Cascade Anderson Geller, Diane Redd and Shannon Loch. 

 

The Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association was founded in 1974, the same year that the Portland City Council voted to create Portland's nationally and internationally recognized neighborhood and community engagement system. 

​

Some other interesting resources MTNA has gathered are linked here:

• "Mt. Tabor--From Forests to Families" by Grant Nelson

• 1892 real estate brochure--"Mt. Tabor Views"--great illustrations and descriptions of the neighborhood (original in the Norm Gholston Collection)

• 1933 Proposal for Mt. Tabor Observatory Tower (over 300 feet tall!)

​

Nearby Neighborhoods

​​To learn about the history of nearby neighborhoods go to:

• Montavilla:  Montavilla Memories; Village Portland

• South Tabor: South Tabor Neighborhood History

​​​​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​