There are dissenters to the widely held belief that Hawthorne Boulevard takes its name from Dr. J.C. Hawthorne operator of a hospital for mentally ill folks in the late 1800’s. Mrs. Eugene (Mary Elizabeth) Prettyman Williams takes a different view in an article in the June 24, 1961 edition of The Portland Reporter. She was the granddaughter of Dr. Perry Prettyman, whose homestead was built in 1848 near the modern intersection of 55th and Hawthorne. “Hawthorne Boulevard is not named for Dr. Hawthorne” she says. “It got its name from a double row of hawthorn trees planted the entire length of the street by Dr. Prettyman.” An article in the November 7, 1921 Oregonian tells a similar story referencing a report in the Oregon Farmer of July 1859. The Oregonian says Dr. Prettyman planted hawthorn hedges in 1856 on each side of the road and that they “were the only hawthorn hedges in the country.” It says later “The letter ‘e’ was later tacked onto the name of Hawthorn road, which became an avenue with the development of the city, and this is conceded to be in honor of Dr. J.C. Hawthorne.”
The City Portland Archives holds the minutes of the Common Council of the City of East Portland which shows that in April of 1888, Asylum Street, formerly U Street, became Hawthorne Avenue.