Portland | History, Description, Map, & Facts (2024)

Portland, city, seat (1854) of Multnomah county, northwestern Oregon, U.S. The state’s largest city, it lies just south of Vancouver, Washington, on the Willamette River near its confluence with the Columbia River, about 100 miles (160 km) by river from the Pacific Ocean. Portland is the focus of a large surrounding urban area that, in addition to Vancouver, includes such Oregon cities as Beaverton and Gresham. Inc. 1851. Pop. (2010) 583,776; Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro Metro Area, 2,226,009; (2020) 652,503; Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro Metro Area, 2,512,859.

History

The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed near the site on the Columbia River in 1805–06. The city was laid out in 1845 and, after two of its early citizens flipped a penny, was named for Portland, Maine, rather than Boston, Massachusetts. Early growth was stimulated by a number of gold rushes and the flow of immigrants along the Oregon Trail. Portland attracted a large population of Chinese immigrants. The city’s area grew in the 1890s when it annexed surrounding communities, and the 1905 exposition celebrating the 100th anniversary of Lewis’s and Clark’s arrival brought the city national attention. Portland’s position at the junction of the Columbia River and the main north-south route from California to Puget Sound made it a valuable commercial centre handling the farm and forest produce of the Cascade Range, Willamette River valley, and Columbia River basin. The construction of deepwater port facilities capable of harbouring oceangoing vessels, the completion of the Northern Pacific transcontinental railroad, and the introduction of cheap hydroelectric power encouraged industry, and during World War II Portland was a major shipbuilding centre. Successful urban revitalization programs were undertaken in the 1970s and ’80s.

The contemporary city

High-technology industries and electronics manufacturing, including software development, computer services, and the production of computers, computer equipment, and measuring instruments, are a major part of Portland’s economy. Other manufactures include shoes and apparel, trucks and truck parts, paper products and packaging, aerospace equipment, machinery, and metals and metal products. Food processing, printing and publishing, and services such as health care, education, distribution, and tourism are also important. The city has an international airport, and its port is one of the country’s largest handlers of wheat and automobile shipments.

This heavily forested city contains more than 14 square miles (36 square km) of parkland, including the 5,000-acre (2,000-hectare) Forest Park on the northwest side. The International Rose Test Garden (established in 1917), with hundreds of varieties of roses, is one of several cultivated green spaces throughout the city; there is also an arboretum, a botanic garden, and Chinese and Japanese gardens. The Grotto is a Roman Catholic shrine of gardens and religious statues. Seventeen bridges cross the city’s waterways. Portland is the home of the National Basketball Association’s Trail Blazers. Educational institutions include the University of Portland (1901), Concordia University (1905), Reed College (1908), Lewis and Clark College (1867), Warner Pacific College (1937), Portland State University (1946), Portland Community College (1961), Cascade College (1993; a centre of the University of Oregon), and Oregon Health and Science University.

Portland’s annual Rose Festival (June) is widely acclaimed, and a blues festival and a brewer’s festival are held each July. The city is a centre of craft beer brewing, and the Willamette River valley is a scenic wine-producing region. Cultural institutions include symphony, ballet, opera, and theatre organizations as well as art and historical museums. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry includes a planetarium and a submarine exhibit. The World Forestry Center operates a museum devoted to forest issues, and the American Advertising Museum displays exhibits on the history of advertising. Nearby scenic areas include the 620-foot (190-metre) Multnomah Falls and Vista House, reached by the Historic Columbia River Highway, and Mount Hood National Forest. Snowcapped Mount Hood is about 50 miles (80 km) east-southeast, and Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams in Washington are also visible from the city.