One of the most interesting streetcar lines in Portland: it began as a steam motor line through sparsely-populated areas to the village of St. Johns in 1889 and was finally converted to electric operation in 1903. A cut-off loop from Northern Hill to St. Johns was implemented soon after electrification to shorten the journey: return cars came via the “old” route along N Fessenden Street and N Macrum Avenue, cars only traveling clockwise around the loop.

The construction of the massive Spokane, Portland & Seattle railway cut through the peninsula caused no end of problems for the St. Johns line, which had to have its loop rerouted multiple times before ending up in its final configuration along N Wall Street in 1910. The one-way loop system was converted to two-way in 1913.

Finally, the long-delayed Greeley cutoff provided residents of the peninsula a quicker diagonal route to downtown on January 1, 1926.

The venerable line was replaced by trolley bus service in April 1937.

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