By 1909 St. Johns, "a scattered cluster of houses lost in a forest of firs" already had churches, schools, a library, and 5-cent electric streetcar service to Portland. Many members of St. Johns considered the community self-sufficient, their port on the Willamette rivaling the nearby city.

This advertisement in The Peninsula, a boosterish publication, sought to draw people to the budding Portland peninsula. The Oregon Flake Food Company, St. Johns Port, a shipyard, a machine works, and woolen mills were but a few of the early industries. Although incorporated into the city of Portland for over a hundred years, residents of St. Johns still harbor a local identity manifested in support for local businesses.