PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — We know Portland as the Rose City but it’s also the City of Bridges.
Ten bridges carry vehicles across the Willamette River and the St. Johns Bridge may be the most impressive of all.
Framed by the vastness of Forest Park on one end and the St. Johns neighborhood on the other — the gothic towers and stunning architecture of the St. Johns Bridge make it special.
“St. Johns is a wonderful bridge. It’s the only suspension bridge on the Willamette in downtown Portland, and only one of three suspension bridges in the state,” ODOT historian Robert Hadlow said.
Built in 1931 for Multnomah County at a cost of $4.5 million, the St. Johns Bridge was the longest suspension bridge west of Detroit at the time.
It was the creation of internationally-known bridge engineer David B. Steinman.
“He was once asked which of his bridges do you like the most, and he said it was the St. Johns,” Hadlow said. “He put more of himself in that bridge than any of the others and thought it came out well.”
The St. Johns Bridge was in the flight path of Portland’s airport, which was on Swan Island. Some wanted the bridge painted bright yellow and black so pilots could see it.
Instead, Steinman was among the first to install aviation beacons on bridge towers.
He painted the bridge verdant green.
“Fits well with its landscape but also draws attention to itself,” Hadlow said.
Multnomah County gave up control of the bridge and the Highway 30 bypass to the state in 1976. The Oregon Department of Transportation gave it a much-needed $40 million makeover and seismic upgrade in 2005, a cause for celebration.
The bridge even made national news in 2015 when Greenpeace protesters rappelled from the bridge to block the icebreaker Fennica from leaving Swan Island after repairs.
The protest lasted 40 hours but the Fennica eventually made it to Alaska as part of Shell Oil Company’s drilling operations.
Today Hadlow calls the St. Johns Bridge poetry in steel. The arches beneath give Cathedral Park its appropriate name.
Portland has other impressive bridges but many would argue none are as striking as the St. Johns Bridge.
St. Johns, the neighborhood and the bridge, are named for settler James John. He came from Missouri in 1941, settling in what is now Linnton. He established the St. Johns neighborhood several years later.