Vista Bridge

Vista Bridge
Carries Vehicles and pedestrians
Crosses Street and light rail lines
Locale Portland, Oregon
Maintained by Multnomah County
Total length 248 ft
Height 120 ft
Opened 1926[1][2]
Vista Avenue Viaduct
Detail of light standards and benches mid-span, and view of downtown and east Portland
Location: 1200 SW Vista Ave.
Portland, Oregon
Built: 1926
NRHP Reference#: 84003093
Added to NRHP: April 26, 1984

The Vista Bridge (officially, Vista Avenue Viaduct) is an arch bridge for vehicles and pedestrians located in Portland, Oregon, United States. It connects the areas of King's Hill and Vista Ridge (the entire southern hillside is also referred to as Portland Heights) which are both in the Goose Hollow neighborhood.[3] The MAX Light Rail line and Jefferson Street/Canyon Road travel under the bridge, and Vista Avenue crosses the bridge.

The bridge has four pedestrian balconies (extensions outward from the sidewalk) holding concrete benches, two on each side.[4] The 248-foot-long (76 m) structure was designed by architect Fred T. Fowler.[4] It is of a rib-reinforced concrete deck arch design.[4] Completed in 1926, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, as the Vista Avenue Viaduct, on April 26, 1984.[5]

The Ford Street Bridge,[6] a previous bridge on this site, was built in 1903 as part of a streetcar route to Council Crest, the highest point in Portland at 1,070 feet.[7][8] Council Crest was the site of the "Big Tree Observatory" (built for the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition) and a popular amusement park and dance hall that operated from 1907 to 1929.[9] Streetcars crossed the current bridge until 1950, when service on the Council Crest line (and the only other two then-remaining urban streetcar lines) was abandoned,[10] but the disused tracks remained in place on the bridge for another four decades, until a renovation of the bridge deck.

In 1991, several bungee jumps were filmed here for an Oregon Lottery advertisement.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Portland Transportation History Timeline
  2. ^ The placards at the north end of the bridge say 1925. See photograph.
  3. ^ Prince, Tracy J. (2011). Portland's Goose Hollow. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 2. ISBN 9780738574721. http://books.google.com/books?id=YABWNNHirLIC&lpg=PP1&dq=isbn%3A9780738574721&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  4. ^ a b c Norman, James B. (1991). Portland's Architectural Heritage: National Register Properties of the Portland Metropolitan Area. Portland, Or: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 136.
  5. ^ "Oregon National Register List". Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department. July 16, 2007. http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-10. 
  6. ^ Prince, Tracy J. (2011). Portland's Goose Hollow. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738574721.
  7. ^ "Council Crest Park". City of Portland Parks and Recreation Department. http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=24&action=ViewPark. Retrieved 2009-03-11. 
  8. ^ Laura O. Foster (2005). Portland Hill Walks: Twenty Explorations in Parks and Neighborhoods. Timber Press. ISBN 9780881926927. http://www.timberpress.com/books/excerpt.cfm/9780881926927. Retrieved 2007-02-15. 
  9. ^ "Council Crest Dreamland of the Northwest". pdxhistory.com. http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/council_crest.html. Retrieved 2009-03-11. 
  10. ^ Thompson, Richard (2006). Portland's Streetcars, p. 113. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3115-4.
  11. ^ Tom Hallman Jr. (April 4, 1991). "Stunt jump off bridge lures critics". Bungee.com quoting The Oregonian. http://www.bungee.com/bzapp/press/oreg2.html. Retrieved 2007-02-15. 


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  • Category:National Register of Historic Places
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