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Portland is a city at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of
Oregon. With a population of 562,690 it is Oregon's most populous, and the third most populous
city in the Pacific Northwest, after Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Approximately 2 million people live in the surrounding metropolitan area (MSA), the 24th-most
populous in the U.S.
Portland was incorporated in 1851 and is the seat of Multnomah County. The city and region are
notable for strong land-use planning and investment in public transit, supported by Metro, a
distinctive regional-government scheme. Portland lies in the Marine West Coast climate region
marked by warm summers and rainy but temperate winters, ideal for roses. Indeed, for more than
a century Portland has been known as "The City of Roses," and has many rose gardens, most
prominently the International Rose Test Garden. Portland is also known for its large number of
microbreweries, and is the home of the Trail Blazers NBA basketball team.
Portland, Oregon History:
Portland started as a spot known as "the clearing", which was on the banks of the
Willamette 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. Overton later sold his half
of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove of Portland, Maine. Pettygrove and Lovejoy both
wished to name the new city after their own home town; this was decided with a coin toss,
which Pettygrove won.
At the time of its incorporation on February 8, 1851 Portland had over 800 inhabitants, a
steam sawmill, a log cabin hotel, and a newspaper, the Weekly Oregonian. By 1879, the
population had grown to 17,500. Portland's location, with access both to the Pacific Ocean
via the Willamette and the Columbia rivers and to the agricultural Tualatin Valley via the
"Great Plank Road" through a canyon in the West Hills (the route of current-day U.S.
Highway 26), gave it an advantage over nearby ports, and it grew quickly. It remained
the major port in the Pacific Northwest for much of the 19th century, until the 1890s,
when Seattle's deepwater harbor was connected to the rest of the mainland by rail,
affording an inland route without the treacherous navigation of the Columbia River.
During this time, corruption in the government allowed for some very unsavory activities
to go on as well: "white slavery", specifically including the abduction of men to be used
as forced labor on sailing ships, was so common that a network of underground tunnels, the
Portland Underground (also known as the "Shanghai Tunnels"), was built to accommodate the
practice. The first known reference to Portland as "The City of Roses" was made by
visitors to an 1888 Episcopal Church convention, the nickname growing in popularity after
the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition where Mayor Harry Lane suggested that the
city needed a "festival of roses" The first Portland Rose Festival was held two years
later, and remains the city's major annual festival a century later.
Portland Businesses Wanted
Have a computer or internet related business in Portland, Oregon?
We would like to talk to you about becoming a reseller of our services.
Contact Us to request more information or a copy of
our resellers agreement.
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