The neighborhood began as a land claim of Thomas and Polly-Anne Tyse, and through the 1800's the area remained a densely wooded area, unnamed and home to only a few residents. Early resident Isaac Baird was a circus man who wintered his animals, including elephants, in a barn near his home. Larger development was spurred by the arrival of an electric street car line in 1907 and a station. In 1910, H.L.Gilbert consolidated the majority of the current village (including the existing Home Addition) into the Wildwood Subdivision. At this point, the site was bounded by the same physical streets, but their names were: Fulton Boulevard, Farewell Street and Gordon Avenue. The neighborhood continued to grow and was eventually annexed to Portland over an 8-year period beginning in 1954.