History of Portland, Oregon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The city of Portland, Oregon began as a spot known as "The Clearing," which was on the banks of the Willamette River about halfway between Oregon City and Fort Vancouver. In 1843, William Overton saw great commercial potential for this land, but lacked the funds required to file a land claim. He struck a bargain with his partner Asa Lovejoy of Boston, Massachusetts: for 25¢, Overton would share his claim to the 640-acre (2.6 km²) site.
Bored with clearing trees and building roads, Overton sold his half of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove of Portland, Maine. When it came time to name their new town, Pettygrove and Lovejoy both had the same idea; to name it after his home town. They flipped a coin to decide, and Pettygrove won.
Portland existed in the shadow of Oregon City, the territorial capital twelve miles (19 km) upstream on the falls of the Willamette. However, Portland was located at the Willamette's head of navigation, giving it a key advantage over its older peer. It also triumphed over early rivals like Milwaukie and Sellwood. By 1850 Portland had approximately 800 inhabitants, a steam sawmill, a log cabin hotel, and a newspaper, called the Weekly Oregonian.
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[edit] Late 19th century
Portland was the major port in the Pacific Northwest for much of the 19th century, until the 1890s, when direct railroad access between the deepwater harbor in Seattle and points east by way of Stampede Pass were built. Goods could then be transported from the northwest coast to inland cities without needing to navigate the dangerous bar at the mouth of the Columbia River.
[edit] Late 20th century
During the dot-com boom of the mid to late 1990s, Portland saw an influx of young, creative people[citation needed], drawn by the promise of a city with abundant nature, urban growth boundaries, and opportunities to work in the graphic design and internet industries, as well as for companies like Doc Martens, Nike, Adidas, and Weiden + Kennedy. When this economic bubble burst, the city was left with a large creative population. Also, when the bubble burst in Seattle and San Francisco, even more artists streamed into Portland. In 2000 the U.S. census indicated there were over 10,000 artists in Portland[citation needed].
[edit] Specific topics
[edit] Shanghaiing
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Like other west coast ports, Portland was home to frequent acts of shanghaiing. Tunnels under city blocks stretching for blocks from the Willamette River, although built for legitimate business reasons, became known as shanghai tunnels because of their purported use in such kidnappings. Portland was unique because trap doors (known as "deadfalls") were used to drop the unsuspecting victims into the tunnels where they were held in cells until the ship was ready to set sail.
[edit] Art in the 21st century
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Starting in the mid-1990s, Portland experienced what some consider a renaissance in the local art scene[citation needed].
While visual arts had always been important in the Pacific Northwest, this time period saw a dramatic rise in the number of artists, independent galleries, site-specific shows and public discourse about the arts[citation needed]. Several arts publications were born and the city started to take art much more seriously. It was clearly during this decade that Portland went through a fundamental transformation into a city with a rich arts culture that translates internationally.[citation needed]
The Portland millennial art renaissance has been described, written about and commented on in publications such as ARTnews, Artpapers, Art in America, Modern Painters and Art Forum and discussed on CNN[citation needed]. Former Whitney Museum curator Lawrence Rinder was a notable champion of Portland's transformation[citation needed]. Senior art critic for the Village Voice, Jerry Saltz described the activity of the Portland art scene (during a lecture at PNCA in January 2004) as, "intimidating."[citation needed]
[edit] See also
- Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
- Vanport, Oregon
- A Day Called 'X'
- Columbus Day Storm of 1962
- Mount Hood Freeway
- Mayors of Portland
[edit] External links
- Postcards and snaps from the past at PdxHistory.com
- Historical Timeline at Portland City Auditor's Office
- Wartime Portland at Oregon Historical Society
- Portland page at Oregon History Project (Oregon Historical Society)
- Capsule histories of years 1974-99 at Willamette Week
- Transportation history, Portland Office of Transportation
