John requested that all of his assets be sold off to raise funds for first his burial and funeral and the remainder to building the new school house.

Early citizens tasked with incorporation of their small town formed a new school district and petitioned the county court for a vote of approval.

[9] For almost two years after the town was established the streets remained unnamed and houses went unnumbered, making postal service impossible.

[10] The electric streetcar line in St. Johns connecting the town to Albina and Portland was petitioned in 1902 by the University Park Board of Trade.

In 1903, the St. Johns City Council approved an ordinance taxing dancehalls $10 a day, making it virtually impossible for someone to run such a business within town limits.

Along the same lines, the city council refused to approve saloon licences, even after potential proprietors vowed to keep gamblers and hard liquor away.

[16] Citizens petitioned the St. Johns City Council in 1904 to regulate the roaming of cattle within the town's limits in order to protect small gardens from being destroyed.

[17] When Mayor Fred W. Valentine appointed himself postmaster during a controversial decision in 1906 he subsequently ousted A. S. Clark who had served that post in an unofficial capacity for years.

[19] In 1915, voters in St Johns decided to give up their charter and merge with the City of Portland, its neighbor since the 1891 annexation of Albina.

In January 1906, amidst financial woes, the city was facing the prospect of selling off the land on which they had intended to erect a new municipal building.

Ultimately a $7,953 contract was granted to Youngferdorf & Son, who would be responsible for the building of the foundation, outside and inside walls, roof, gas piping, and rough flooring.

The building's architect, W. W. Goodrich, explained in a letter to the council that the contract was not completed due to poor weather and failed shipments.

[26] In February 1910, a Hindu laborer was arrested for allegedly starting a fire at the Portland Manufacturing Plant, costing the company US$100,000 in damages.

According to 2019 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, St. Johns's ZIP code 97203, which is shared with other neighborhoods, is about 63% non-Hispanic white, compared with about 71% for Portland as a whole.

[29] It is a community containing Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders and is considered to be one of the city's more diverse neighborhoods.

The rail construction was the first of its kind in the area and was planned for the purposes of transporting goods to several industries that had sprouted around St.

[32] The location was selected for the 5.5 miles of track, which would be placed on John Mock's property by Swan Island and curve around Portland University.

The company built double tracks of steam trains that would stop at Ockley Green Station where electric cars would take over to Albina and eventually Portland.

After the installation of the streetcar, travel time to the rural town was slashed and the population and number of industries steadily increased over the next years.

Francis I. McKenna, the head of the company building the electric line, was a prominent citizen of University Park involved in the City Beautiful movement.

[38] Just weeks later the streetcar manager wrote a letter to the association announcing a new through service line to Portland without transfer.

[39] In May it was learned that only half of the association's demands would be met as the Portland Consolidated Railway Company kept their old thirty-minute schedule.

To do this, the city government leaned on businesses to increase their workforce so more people would be paying taxes, buying homes and spending at local shops.

This worked as the Portland Woolen Mills, which was located near the waterfront, increased their gross payroll from $7,500 to $15,000 a month while employing a total of 300 workers on day and night shifts.

The downtown business core of St. Johns consists primarily of boutique shops and individually owned and operated restaurants, including two theater pubs.