The first car barn on East Ankeny street was that of the City & Suburban company, built at SE Ankeny and 24th to house 20 cars in 1893. It burned down on April 2, 1894 and the new barn was relocated up to 28th – but between Burnside and Couch, not Ankeny and Burnside.

Eventually, a complex of three different car barns built up over a period of time – the original barn to the east of 28th between Burnside and Couch (1894); one to the east of 28th between Ankeny and Burnside (1910); and one to the west of 28th Avenue between Burnside and Couch (1911).

Supposition: My theory is that these barns are known as the “East Ankeny Car Barns” not because they’re located on East Ankeny street – only one of them is and it’s not the original barn – but because they were originally built to house cars serving the East Ankeny line.

The north-eastern unit is the original car barn, built in 1894 and was enlarged in 1901 and 1903, eventually filling half the block. Articles suggest that the building was replaced/rebuilt in 1912. The building was converted into a supermarket in 1952, and today houses a Whole Foods Market.

The south-eastern unit is first mentioned as being built in 1910. In later years when less car storage was needed it was converted into traction company offices, and was sold off when the Portland Traction Company became Rose City Transit in 1954. It survives today in a heavily-remodeled form as the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon building.

The first reference I can find to the north-western unit is from 1911, when the PRL&P purchased the entire block between 26th and 28th for the construction of a new barn. Only one bay of this barn remains as the Burnside Trolley Building, which is listed the National Register of Historic Places as “West Ankeny Car Barns Bay E”.

Google Earth .kmz file overlaid on a map showing the ultimate track layout of the Ankeny car barns.

Lines Housed

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