History of Hayden Island

 According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, in the fall of 1805, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark drew the island on their maps as Image Canoe Island, named for the decorated canoes of the Multnomah people. Years later, Hudson’s Bay Company personnel renamed it Vancouver Island and, still later, it was known as Shaw’s Island for its owner.

The island was named Hayden Island in 1851 after its then-owner, Gay Hayden, who had migrated from Wisconsin in 1850 and purchased the land from Mr. Barker and Mr. Copeland. For several years, the Haydens farmed the island, raising beef and hay, and sold wood, butter, eggs, and vegetables to Vancouver Barracks, the U.S. Army post on the north bank of the Columbia.

The Ferry Terminal on NE 33rd and Marine Drive was used to transport workers from Vanport, south of Hayden Island, to the Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver.

The railroad bridge that crosses Hayden Island is owned by BNSF (formerly known as Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The bridge, built in 1908, is the oldest single pin-swing bridge in the State of Washington. Ferries transported people and goods from Vancouver and Portland until the Interstate Bridge opened in 1917. 

The Jantzen Beach Amusement Park, “The Coney Island of the West,” opened on May 26, 1928; at over 123 acres, it was the largest amusement park in the nation. The park ceased operation on Labor Day 1970 to make way for the Jantzen Beach Mall.

Today there are more than 3,000 people living on Hayden Island. Soon there may be close to 4,000 after the completion of several new apartment complexes.

The new Yacht Harbor apartments, include 175 units in building 1, and 244 residential units in building 2.

Alliance Realty Partners is also building low income apartment complex at the 400 Block of N Tomahawk Island Drive. The Five-story multifamily housing complex on the south side of the street would total approximately 272 units across two buildings.

So add 175 units, 244 units and 272 units and you get 691 units. How many new people would that be? Let’s say 1.5 people per apartment or around 1,000 more people. So add the 3,054 people from the 2020 Census, with the 1,000 new people from Yacht Harbor and Alliance Reality and you get 4,000 total on Hayden Island.

https://www.portland.gov/sites/default/files/2022/hayden-island_civiclife_0.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1053773561319030/posts/6565028830193448/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1053773561319030/posts/4862260463803635/

An older Wikipedia entry says: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayden_Island,_Portland,_Oregon

• No. of households: 1224

• Occupancy rate: 84% occupied

• Owner-occupied: 1012 households (83%)

• Renting: 212 households (17%)

• Avg. household size: 1.74 persons

This is the best summary sheet on the Hayden Island census.

https://www.portland.gov/sites/default/files/2022/hayden-island_civiclife_0.pdf

https://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Hayden-Island-Portland-OR.html

https://www.portland.gov/neighborhoods/northeast/hayden-island

https://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Oregon/Portland/Hayden-Island/Population

https://portlandneighborhood.com/haydenisland