In 1910, the Board of Trustees purchased 23 acres for a future school site in an area called Wallalatin Park between Cornell and Germantown Roads on the hilltop above Linnton. However, it was later decided that the site was too far from town, and it was sold, later becoming part of Forest Park. From 1912 through 1918, a literary magazine called “The Quarterly” was published by the students. A certificate of graduation from St. Helen’s Hall was accepted in lieu of college entrance examinations at Wellesley and Vassar as well as at state universities in Oregon and Washington.

A nighttime fire swept through the Vista Avenue building in August 1914, destroying all but the south wing. Nevertheless, fall classes began 10 days later, being held in the gymnasium with lab classes at Lincoln High School. Boarders were lodged in the Episcopal residence, Bishopcroft, at 19th and Everett. In 1918, the decision was made to lease the old Portland Academy building at 13th and Hall streets, and that building was purchased in 1921. St. Helen’s Hall celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1919 with an elaborate pageant that included a dance by three students in red costumes depicting the disastrous fire of 1914.

In 1916 a new chapel was built, and furnishings were donated, including a set of lamps that still hang in the parish of St. John the Baptist on the Raleigh Hills campus.

Information for this page was condensed from The First Century, a history of St. Helen's Hall written by Sally Reed Stout.

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