Things were pretty wild in 1904. It was the year before the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition was to take place in Portland, and people were jazzed about what the celebration could mean for the city. Vendors were pitching fair organizers like crazy. A rumored observation tower promised the “most magnificent panorama on the American continent.” One guy wanted to build a toboggan slide from Willamette Heights to Guild’s Lake. And then there were the real estate tycoons, looking to cash in on the influx of potential residents.
Take developers Lewis Russell and Percy Blythe, who built a spate of architect-designed spec houses for visitors to tour—and potentially buy—in what later became the Willamette Heights neighborhood. In fact, Russell and Blythe are credited with creating the neighborhood, which The Oregonian…