Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1 allows Amtrak and BNSF trains to cross the Willamette, connecting the neighborhood to North Portland and Washington state beyond.

There are no schools or parks in Northwest Industrial, which has the smallest population of all 95 neighborhoods in Portland.

The area was wetlands in the 19th century when Peter Guild, an early settler, received it as a donation land claim in 1848.

In the 1880s the Northern Pacific Railroad built the Guild's Lake Rail Yard, and rail switching facilities have ever since played an integral role in the area's development (along with US Highway 30, which runs alongside the tracks here).

During the Second World War a massive temporary housing complex provided residences and schools for shipyard workers and their families.