Editor’s Note: In our July-August newsletter we provided more details about Beaumont-Wilshire’s beginnings as told by local historian Doug Decker at a BWNA-sponsored presentation on the history of the area. Our May-June issue was the first in this series of three, should you wish to read them in order. What follows is the balance of the information shared by Decker at the event.
Wilshire Park is Born
While Beaumont was actively promoted with splashy ads as an ideal place to build a home, the nearby Wilshire plat focused on larger lots for dairies, orchards, and gardens surrounded by towering Douglas firs. Plans to develop Wilshire Park into a car campground were thwarted by neighbors rallying against the idea. Locals called it the “33rd Street Woods,” a wild and adventurous place for children. In 1942, the city purchased the land for $28,500 to preserve it as a park.
Streetcar Route Saved
The city’s streetcar system brought a route to NE 41st and Klickitat in 1911. When the city proposed to eliminate that streetcar line because it was not financially profitable, the neighborhood mobilized and successfully advocated to keep it running until the 1940s.
Decker shared these stories as examples of how neighbors have come together for the common good, emphasizing that small actions can make a lasting difference. He urged the audience not to take their surroundings for granted.
For more neighborhood history, visit Decker’s extensive website at alamedahistory.org.
Liz Erickson has lived in the neighborhood with her husband and two children since 2009. Growing up in Beaverton, she remembers visiting grandparents on NE 42nd and walking to Rose’s Ice Cream for a scoop of butter brickle. She’s a Master Recycler volunteer with Metro and served in the Peace Corps in Morocco.