William Kerns, East Mount Tabor’s emigrant homesteader had serious skills with the broad axe. In the 1850s, Kerns cleared his 320-acre Donation Land Claim making mainly wood shingles and shakes for sale. According to a descendant, Kerns could “hew a sill or a beam with the greatest precision and with amazing speed.” In 1855, the East Portland-Mount Tabor School District elected Kerns as their school director. He led the movement to buy land for Washington High School, and later, the board named the school at NE 25^th and Everett after Kerns

The Kerns Neighborhood gets its name from the school, and by association, with William Kerns. It’s easy to imagine Kerns, axe in hand, hungry for timber, as he made east Portland’s own Stumptown. We should be careful, though, to judge. After all, his was a practice common for the time, and he was not alone in thinking this was improving the land. What is more fascinating is the story of the neighborhood after.

Following William Kerns’ days with his axe, people replanted as they made the Kerns Neighborhood their home. According to the 2014 Kerns Neighborhood Street Tree Inventory, the neighborhood has 3,140 trees representing 91 different types. There’s actually a good number of large trees throughout the neighborhood (25%). However, it’s easy to see on the map where canopy is lacking. Look no further than Sandy Boulevard. This bustling commercial district bisects the neighborhood diagonally in a northeast-southwest direction. The history of this road is the key to understanding why it lacks mature trees.