At above
sea level, Council Crest is one of the highest points in the
Tualatin Mountains (West Hills) that run parallel to the
Willamette River in Portland, and is well known for its views of Portland and its environs. The hill was part of a
donation land claim by John B. Talbot and was first known as
Talbot Mountain. Later, the hill became known as
Glass Hill and then
Fairmount, the name of a road that encircles it. In 1898, delegates to the Triennial National Council of Congregational Churches met on the hill and decided to name it
Council Crest. A later assertion that
Native Americans held councils on the summit remains unsupported by evidence.
Streetcar service to the site began on September 20, 1906, when the
Portland Railway, Light and Power Company (PRL&P) opened a newly constructed streetcar loop that extended the "Portland Heights" line (later renamed the "Council Crest" line) to the summit of the hill. Soon after, in 1907, an
amusement park built by PRL&P was opened, and it featured a
merry-go-round, miniature railway,
Ferris wheel and other entertainments, served exclusively by the streetcar line. Named Council Crest Amusement Park, it closed in 1929, The amusement park's wooden observation tower was torn down in 1941 and replaced by a steel water-storage tower. Removal of the rails along the line's private
right-of-way began the next day, and a road was then built along the former rail-only right-of-way. The line had been one of the most famous and scenic trolley lines in North America. (The remainder of the Council Crest line was abandoned six months later, on February 26, 1950, with the closure of the city's last three urban streetcar lines.) Today, the Council Crest neighborhood is served by
TriMet Line 51, but the bus service does not reach Council Crest Park. One of the streetcars which had served the line, car 506, was on static display at Council Crest Park for more than 20 years, from November 1950 until 1972, when it was removed after being damaged by vandals. It was later acquired by the
Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society and is preserved at that group's museum. although those locations do not have the publicly-accessible views offered by Council Crest Park. ==See also==