A story describing the origin of "Dead Man's Hill" in Portland.
On June 6, 1917, The Oregonian carried a story about the deadly car crash. At the time, Stuart was a two-way street. Jacobs and his business partner, J.P. Parker, were reportedly heading up Stuart to check on their rental properties.
Of course, in the dinosaur days of fuel injection,
some vehicles had to be driven up steep hills in reverse to keep gas flowing to the engine.
Jacobs' car only made it halfway up Stuart before it sputtered and stalled.
As the vehicle rolled backwards, "Mr. Parker tried the emergency brake, but it would not hold and the car backed off the embankment, somersaulted and landed on its side," the paper reported.
In the confusion, Jacobs stood up and grabbed the steering wheel. Although he was thrown from the vehicle as it started to flip down the ridge, he managed to be "dragged along with the machine," The Oregonian reported.
Parker walked away with scrapes and bruises. Jacobs, who developed Montclair, Hyde Park and several other Portland housing subdivisions, died at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. He was 47. He left behind a wife, Gussie, and two children.