page_title: Oregon City Municipal Elevator
section_title: Initial elevator
hierarchical_section_title: Oregon City Municipal Elevator / Initial elevator
caption_attribution_description: Photo of mural painting of historical photo depicting original Oregon City Municipal Elevator. Mural located at top elevator lobby.
context_page_description: The Oregon City Municipal Elevator is a 130-foot elevator which connects two neighborhoods in Oregon City in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the only outdoor municipal elevator in the U.S. and one of only four in the world. The upper portion contains an observation deck which accounts for its flying saucer appearance.
  There have been two elevators at this location. The current elevator was built in 1954–55, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
context_section_description: The original elevator that was constructed in this area was built as a means of transportation for the residents in the city. The alternative option before the build, would have been walking the stairs from the base to the top of the cliff which consisted of 722 steps. The first bond issued "A public elevator at the bluff". A bond measure to raise $12,000 for construction was put to voters in July 1912. This levy failed, but a second referendum passed in December of the same year. Sara Chase was the owner of the planned building site. After the city went through the supreme court it was ruled that they could create a right-of-way to the elevator. She agreed to give up a narrow portion of her land. The elevator opened to the public in 1915, delayed by politics. The original elevator was water-powered and took three minutes for the ride. The elevator took three years to build and was constructed out of wood and steel. When the elevator stopped working during the ride, passengers would have to exit through a trap door that had a narrow ladder where the passengers would climb down to safety. Located at the top of the elevator was a catwalk that extended 35 feet stretching across and connecting the elevator to the cliffside. The elevator was so popular that most of the cliffside stairs were removed. The elevator was converted to electric drive in 1924, which reduced the time to 30 seconds. After many years of use in the 1950s it was decided that the elevator would be replaced with a new one.
caption: Depiction of original Oregon City elevator
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