You can’t talk about Portland history without talking about Bull Run, the source for Portland’s pure drinking water. Located in the western foothills of Mt. Hood, Bull Run was also a main source of electricity for Portland and in the early days, it boasted a town that had a Hotel, Gas Station, Grocery Store, Blacksmith and many other amenities that a modern town of the turn-of-the-century boasted of.

It is believed that the original settlement, which was christened Unavilla, was near to the present-day location of the Bull Run School. A post office was established there on May 6, 1893. This was about the time the pristine waters of the Bull Run Watershed were harnessed. An elaborate water purification and delivery system was built to transport this water to the residents of Portland and the surrounding area.

Early view of Main Street in Bull Run paved with wood planks

Another view of Main Street before the wood planks were laid

Within a couple years, Bull Run outgrew Unavilla and the post office moved about a mile east to Bull Run on Nov. 22, 1895. There are plateaus above the Bull Run River, on the way to Marmot, where wild cattle ran free, hence the name “Bull Run”. The bulls had probably escaped from pioneers who came in Wagon Trains from the East on The Oregon Trail.

Part of The Oregon Trail was known as The Barlow Trail, where wagon trains forged through Marmot, Sandy, Jack Knife (Eagle Creek), Barton and the surrounding areas on their way to Oregon City and the Willamette Valley. A favorite campsite was just east of Marmot at Corral Rock. There are two very large rocks that were formed by molten lava from an early eruption on Mt. Hood. These rocks, which are still there today, were used to keep the Pioneers’ cattle in a corral for overnight rest.

The Bull Run Powerhouse under construction circa 1909

This close-up view shows a train used in construction of the Powerhouse

A somewhat later view of construction looking northwest

This view of construction looking southeast shows the tracks going to the Powerhouse and the Covered Bridge in the distance

This close-up view shows the Tent City on the left and the Covered Bridge in the center. A rail car sits on the lower siding to the right.

Early view of the completed Bull Run Powerhouse

By 1908, the need for lights and electricity led to the building of the Bull Run Powerhouse and Roslyn Lake. Roslyn Lake is a man-made reservoir that stores water which is used in power generation. Water for Roslyn Lake is diverted to a concrete canal at the Marmot Dam on the Sandy River. The canal follows the river for about a mile and a half, then the water goes through a tunnel under the Devil’s Backbone and into the reservoir behind the Little Sandy Dam on the Little Sandy River.

The wooden flume begins at the Little Sandy Dam and it follows the Little Sandy River till it reaches the Bull Run River. From there, the water goes through another tunnel at the west end of the Devils Backbone, where it empties into Roslyn Lake. Rails were laid on top of the flume and a train was built to service it. They are still being used today. Just over the hill below Roslyn Lake, the Bull Run Powerhouse was built, along the Bull Run River. The Flume Service Car sits atop the flume.

Bull Run’s Clubhouse also served as a hotel

Beautiful reservoirs were built at Mt. Tabor and in Washinton Park that were connected to Bull Run by thirty miles of pipe

The Mt. Hood Railway and Power Co. opened a 22-mile steam line from Montavilla to Bull Run in 1911 with 30 stations. Nearly all the stations were located at little towns that sprang up around the streetcar line.

There was Montavilla (originally Mount Tabor Villa), Russellville, Ascot, Rockwood, Powell Valley, Gillis, Pleasant Home, Cottrell and Mayberry, where the tracks turned south and followed the Sandy River to a long high trestle at Bull Run Park (now known as Dodge Park) and on to the town of Bull Run by the Bull Run Powerhouse. Several of these towns had their own Post Office for a while.

A long high trestle was first constructed of wood over the Sandy River at Dodge Park and subsequently it was replaced with a steel structure

A Montavilla city car at the end of the line, at 90th & Glisan, about to return to Portland via Glisan Street, where it shares the depot with the Bull Run cars. The tracks on the right went to Bull Run.

Early view of Bull Run Car 1125 making a stop at Gresham

The Portland Railway Light and Power Co. acquired the Mt. Hood Railway and Power Company’s assets and operating equipment in 1912. They added overhead electric wires above the rails in 1913, and began operating electric streetcars on the Mt. Hood Division.

Dignitaries and their spouses at Bull Run on a special run of the ornately decorated private car “Portland”

Passenger service continued until December 27, 1930, while freight service continued until November 26, 1932 when declining revenues brought on by the Depression forced the abandonment of the line. The tracks were removed and salvaged from East Gresham to Bull Run.

Two historic automobile bridges and a bridge for a water pipe cross the Sandy and Bull Run Rivers. The Bridge over the Sandy River was moved to Bull Run Park in 1926 after serving as the eastern-most span of Portland’s Burnside Bridge since 1894. A new, larger Burnside Bridge was built in 1926 and the 32-year-old bridge was moved, piece-by-piece, to Bull Run Park (now Dodge Park), on the Sandy River.

The largest of the three spans was placed over the Sandy River, next to a similarly designed bridge with wrought-iron trim, that was built in 1893 to hold a large pipe carrying Portland’s drinking water. Dodge Park was a small destination Amusement Resort that flourished in the summers. It was famous for boating, swimming, picnicking, camping and fishing and a small town grew around it. Several of the old buildings are still there, including the old Bathhouse at the Park. The old Bathhouse was built like a Lodge and it is fairly well preserved. Over half of the building is not open for public use.

Another bridge span that was salvaged from the old Burnside Bridge was moved to the Bull Run River, near the Bull Run Powerhouse. It replaced the aging covered bridge and served the residents of the town of Bull Run, which was across the river, and continues to serve area residents today. The remaining span was sold to the city of Aberdeen, Washington.

Eventually, fewer employees were needed to operate the power and water generation facilities and the town was dismantled. On January 7, 1939, the Post Office was moved to nearby Camp Namanu where it remained until it closed in 1953. One of Oregon’s finest camping resorts, Camp Namanu was founded in 1924 and it continues under the direction of Camp Fire USA.

Roslyn Lake was where we spent many a summer afternoon during Church Camp; it was like an Amusement Resort. Everyday, we would swim, rent boats and play softball. It was a little bit of Heaven on Earth. We usually had picnics there as well, what fun!!!

In 2007, Portland General Electric will stop using the Bull Run Powerhouse. It will be closed and eventually dismantled. All traces of the town of Bull Run will be lost forever. The Flume will be destroyed, Roslyn Lake will be drained and a new Housing Community will likely rise in its place. Even the Bull Run School has closed.

Today the ghosts are all that remain as Bull Run became The Town That Time Forgot.

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