Troutdale parks panel recommends historic review of streets using 'Indian' name

A Troutdale Parks Advisory Committee motion to refer a proposal to rename streets containing the word “Indian” to the Historic Landmarks Commission passed in a voice vote after staff read a report recommending changes grounded in local historical records.

The report, prepared at the request of Community Development Director Eric Palmer and read aloud by a parks staffer, recommended changing the name Indian John to “Old John” and Indian Mary to “Mary Tibbets.” The staff memo said local records show Old John was the name by which the late-19th-century indigenous resident was known and that the term “Indian John” primarily marked his race rather than his identity.

Committee members debated whether the parks committee had authority to advance street-name changes and raised concerns about the cost to residents and legal/administrative complexity. One member warned renaming can trigger title-search and mail-delivery issues and cited a past local renaming that created complications. Several members said the topic belongs outside parks’ purview and recommended that factual research be gathered by the Historic Landmarks Commission and then considered by the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) for public engagement.

During public comment, resident Joy Prickett, who lives on a street named Indian John, said renaming would impose significant personal costs, including updating driver’s licenses, bank records and property documents, and said residents had not been notified that a change was under consideration. Staff and committee members repeatedly stressed that no renaming will occur without further factual review and public outreach.

The committee’s motion—to forward the question to the Historic Landmarks Commission for factual background and then to CAC for public comment—was made on the record, seconded, and approved on a voice vote. The transcript records one recorded opposition (a single ‘Nay’ on the voice vote). The referral does not itself change any street names; it asks other bodies to gather facts and community input.

Next steps: the committee’s recommendation will be transmitted to the Historic Landmarks Commission for factual research; any subsequent proposal would require formal public notice and follow-up by CAC and the city council.