The first electric streetcar line in Portland!

This line ran over the (old) steel bridge from NW Glisan and initially ran along N Holladay, Larrabee, and Interstate and up a steep grade on N Stanton to connect with the St. Johns steam motor line at N Stanton and Commercial. The line was soon extended along N Stanton to Williams, where it turned south before heading back down the grade on McMillan (a street that no longer exists, being largely under the Veterans Coliseum) to join back onto Larrabee and complete the loop before returning downtown.

However, the steep grade on Stanton proved to be too much for the early electric cars, and by December 1890, the track up the hill was abandoned and the line was split into “Lower Albina” along N Larrabee and Interstate to the intersection of N Stanton and Albina, and “Upper Albina” along Williams and Stanton to the car house and a connection with the St. Johns motor line.

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