James John, the founder of St. Johns, settled on his land claim in the 1840s and was soon followed by others. Schools, churches, and stores were established, and industrial development followed. St. Johns was originally annexed to the city of Portland in 1891. Shipyards were developed in North Portland during World War I and World War II. Among the landmarks of the community are St. Johns Bridge and the nearby city hall building. Longtime businesses include Slim's Restaurant and Lounge, Peninsula Iron Works, the Man's Shop, and the Wishing Well Restaurant. Moonstruck Chocolate Company has been located in St. Johns since 2002. Well-known individuals, such as members of the Jower and Leveton families; Howard Galbraith, a founder of the St. Johns Heritage Society; and Walt Morey, author of Gentle Ben, have called St. Johns home. Today, St. Johns comes alive every year with events such as the St. Johns Parade, St. Johns Bizarre, and the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival. The recent influx of people of coming to Portland has influenced redevelopment within the community.

In 1865, a settler named James John laid out a small neighborhood at the end of the north Portland peninsula, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. For a half century, until its annexation to Portland in 1915, St. Johns was an independent municipality. Factories lined the waterfront, and a full complement of businesses in the small downtown area--grocers, bakers, hardware stores, clothing shops--catered to all the residents' needs. St. Johns was always a working-class town with a strong sense of identity. But after World War II, as Portland grew, St. Johns began to seem defined less by self-sufficiency than by isolation and neglect. Mom-and-Pop shops had a hard time staying in business. Junkyards and drinking establishments proliferated. Residents began to realize the full extent of decades of industrial pollution on the St. Johns waterfront. At some point, St. Johns officially became the poorest neighborhood in Portland, a distinction it still holds today. But St. Johns never lost the loyalty of its residents. This thesis is about some of the people and places that embody the neighborhood's eclectic and stubborn character. As St. Johns undergoes a gradual and perhaps inevitable transformation into a trendier, more upscale area, time is running short to meet the old-timers and try to understand the neighborhood through their eyes. This thesis attempts to capture the essence of a neighborhood with a rich past, a colorful present, and a promising but uncertain future.