First it was land held by the erstwhile John McLoughlin of the Hudson Bay Trading Company, next by Mt. Tabor farmers taking advantage of the valley land, then by John Stephens, who donated land to the first Oregon Hospital for the insane in the lower blocks, inspiring the boulevard's original name, "Asylum Avenue." Hawthorne gained its current name, after the man who inspired Stephens to build that asylum, once the institution had moved and the residents wanted their street to be known by something a little more respectable. The area didn't begin to develop the character we know it by today until the streetcars of the early 20th century reshaped the area with business and, seemingly, a series of groceries. This page provides a detailed history compiled for the city's transportation officials almost a decade ago.
The major landmark, the Bagdad, another of the McMenamins jewels, is an opulent symbol of the headiness of that time. From the angle of this photo you can't quite sense the grandeur, but according to this page of Bagdad history put out by its current owners, the theater was built for $100,000 in 1927 by Universal Studios, and featured everything from an orchestra conductor trained by Tchiakovsky himself to usherettes dressed in "Arabian-style uniforms."
Oh yes, and of course there should be a mention of the Oregon premieres of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and My Own Private Idaho, both of which took place here.
