Woodlawn

Woodlawn is one of the oldest settled areas in the Old Albina District, established as a farming community in the 1860s. Because the adjacent Piedmont neighborhood was zoned exclusively for housing and prohibited commercial development, Woodlawn naturally evolved into the commercial center for the surrounding area, particularly as the streetcar extended service to the neighborhood. At its peak in the early 20th century, Woodlawn boasted a shoe repair, a butcher, a baker, a candy maker, and a doctor — a complete neighborhood ecosystem.

During World War II, Woodlawn became home to many African American workers and families who relocated to Portland to work in the Kaiser Shipbuilding industries. This racially integrated the neighborhood and added new cultural richness to its commercial life. The decades of the 1970s–90s brought disinvestment, gang activity, and economic hardship to Woodlawn, followed by a sustained 21st-century revitalization anchored by returning small businesses and investment in the historic housing stock.

Today Woodlawn is celebrated as one of NE Portland's most authentic neighborhood commercial districts. Breakside Brewery — an employee-owned, nationally-acclaimed craft brewery — operates its flagship location in a converted building on NE Dekum St. Firehouse Restaurant serves wood-fired cuisine in the actual 1913 firehouse building. Woodlawn Coffee & Pastry and Campana restaurant have both earned regional and national acclaim. Nearly all businesses in Woodlawn are locally owned, giving the neighborhood an irreplaceable sense of place.