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While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
From the foundation to the
top of the fire wall it measured eighty-one
feet and was three stories in height; the
cost was fifty thousand dollars and the
finish was elegant. This building was
destroyed by fire in December, 1872. The
Court House was finished in 1866. A
correspondent of the San Francisco
Bulletin, whose grace and humor of style
as a newspaper writer would hardly betray
his devotion to the knotty problems of
applied law, writes of a view from the
cupola of this building. After describing
the scenery of the mountains and lands
surrounding, he says: " But to return to
Portland. On every side of me I saw its
varied and sometimes motley structures of
wood and brick, densely packed together, and
edging out toward the limits of the natural
site of the city-a green semi-circle of
irregular shaped fir clad hills, on the west
and south, and the water of the bright
Willamette, curving outwardly from the north
to the south. A radius of a mile from where
I stood would not more than reach the verge
of the town. Across the Willamette, and upon
its east bank, I could count the houses and
orchards in the suburban village of East
Portland. This place is yet half town and
half country, but it is destined at no
distant day to furnish an abundance of cheap
and comfortable homes to the thrifty and
industrious artisans and laborers whose
hands are daily turning this raw clay and
growing timber into temples and habitations
for civilized man."
It was in 1866, also, that the Oregon Iron
Company's Works were begun at Oswego, with a
capacity of ten tons per twenty-four hours.
W. S. Ladd was president and H. C. Leonard
vice-president of the company.
The assessed value of property was four
million one hundred and ninety-nine thousand
one hundred and twenty-five dollars. The
export of produce reached the following
figures: Flour, one hundred and forty-nine
thousand and seventy-five dollars; salmon,
twenty-one thousand seven hundred and
ninety-four dollars; bacon, seventy thousand
and sixteen dollars; apples, sixty-eight
thousand eight hundred and sixty dollars;
wool, sixty-six thousand eight hundred and
forty dollars; making an aggregate of four
hundred and fifty-five thousand four hundred
and fifty-seven dollars. The shipment of
gold dust, bars, etc., reached the large sum
of eight million seventy thousand and six
hundred dollars, which, it is possible, was
an over estimate.
The screw steamship Montana and the
side-wheeler Oriflamme appeared on
the line to San Francisco, and the little
screw steamer Fideliter to Victoria.
The population was six thousand five hundred
and eight, of whom three hundred and
twenty-four were Chinese.
During 1867 there began in earnest agitation
for a railroad through the Willamette Valley
to Portland, a full account of which appears
elsewhere. Propositions were made by the
newly-formed railroad companies that the
city guarantee interest on bonds to the
value of one million dollars, and a
committee appointed by the City Council made
a favorable report, setting forth the
advantage to the farmers and the country
towns of cheap transportation to the seaport
and the reciprocal advantage to the city
from increased trade and commerce. The
movements of the time, of which this was a
sign, stimulated building and the sale of
real estate. The Methodist Church erected on
the corner of Third and Taylor streets, a
brick edifice in the English Gothic style
with ground dimensions fifty-six by
eighty-two feet: It was to have a seating
capacity of twelve hundred and supported a
tower with a spire reaching a hundred and
fifty feet above the, ground. It cost thirty
thousand dollars. A school house, with amain
part fifty-six by eighty feet and two wings,
each twelve by forty feet, was built for the
North Portland School, between C and D
streets. The Bank of British Columbia
erected a substantial building on Front
street. Brick stores were constructed by Dr.
E. Poppleton and others on First street. The
Unitarian Church erected an edifice, the
tenth, church building in the city, on
Seventh and Yamhill streets.
Exports of produce and merchandise reached
the value of two million four hundred and
sixty-two thousand seven hundred and
ninety-three dollars. The great apparent
increase over 1866 was due in part to a more
perfect record kept, but also to actual
improvement. The shipment of gold dust fell
to four million and one thousand dollars.
The screw steamships Ajax and
Continental appeared on the San
Francisco line-the Pacific and
Orizaba having been drawn off and the
Brother Jonathan wrecked some time
before. The river was much improved at Swan
Island. The population of the city for this
year was estimated at six thousand seven
hundred and seventeen.
In 1868 the railroad company began work, the
west side breaking ground April 15th and the
east side two days later. During this year
also an independent commerce sprang up with
New York, and the way was opened for direct
export of grain to Europe. The iron works of
the city began to command the trade in the
supply of mining machinery for the Idaho and
Eastern Oregon companies. The sawmill of
Smith, Hayden & Co., on the corner of Front
and Madison streets, was improved so as to
cut twenty-four thousand feet of lumber per
day, and that of Estes, Simpson & Co., on
Front Street, was enlarged to a capacity of
twenty thousand feet. The handsomest
building of this year was that of Ladd &
Tilton, for the Oregon Bank, at the corner
of First and Stark streets. It occupied an
entire lot fifty by one hundred feet, and
was built in two stories upon a basement
seven feet in height. The material of its
construction was brick, with ornamental iron
work, and the pilasters on Doric bases with
Corinthian capitals. Upon the interior it
was finished with lavish elegance, and the
whole cost of the structure was about
seventy thousand dollars.
On the corner of Front and Morrison streets
was built a four story brick structure by R.
D. White. This was originally intended as
partly a business house and partly as a
hotel, but has now been converted wholly to
the latter use. Buildings of brick were
erected on Front street by Moffit &
Strowbridge, and A. P. Ankeny and others;
and on First street by Goodnough & Holmes
and Goldsmith Bros. A fire-proof brick
building for a sash and door factory was
built by Mr. John P. Walker, to replace a
wooden structure which had previously served
the purpose, but had now been destroyed by
fire. Over four hundred dwelling houses were
erected, "And yet," says The Oregonian,
"you will find that there are no desirable
houses to rent. The great and increasing
growth and improvement of our city is no
chimera." Indeed, during this year Portland
was experiencing one of those waves of
prosperity by which she has been advancing
to her present eminence.
The exports of the year reached a value of
two million seven hundred and eighty
thousand four hundred and eight dollars,
requiring the services of nine steamers and
thirty sailing vessels. The assessed value
of property was four million six hundred
thousand seven hundred and sixty dollars.
Real estate transactions reached a volume of
one hundred and forty-three thousand eight
hundred and forty-six dollars. The price
paid for the lot on the corner of First and
Alder streets by the Odd Fellows was
twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars.
The shipments of treasure and bullion were
three million six hundred and seventy-seven
thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars.
The population was seven thousand nine
hundred and eighty.
In 1869
an Immigration Exchange was formed, by which
information as to the resources and
opportunities of Oregon was disseminated
abroad, and employment was found for
laborers. In the line of buildings there
were erected seven of brick, aggregating a
cost of $172, 000, and twelve large frame
buildings costing altogether $58,000; while
many smaller ones were built, making a total
of about $400,000. The most conspicuous of
these was the Odd Fellows' building at the
corner of First and Alder streets, three
stories in height, and costing $40, 000; the
United States building for Court House,
Customs House and Post Office were begun on
a scale to cost three hundred thousand
dollars. The reservoir of the Water Works
Company on Sixth street, with a capacity of
three million five hundred thousand gallons,
was built this year. On the improvement of
the Willamette there was spent thirty-one
thousand dollars. Exports reached one
million sixty-six thousand five hundred and
two dollars; treasure, two million five
hundred and fifty-nine thousand dollars; and
bullion, four hundred and nineteen thousand
six hundred and fifty-seven dollars. Real
estate transactions were upward of half a
million. The population of Portland proper
was estimated at eight thousand nine hundred
and twenty-eight, and of East Portland, five
hundred.
In 1870 the steady growth which from the
first had been a fairly reliable index of
the growth of the northwest coast, began
some-what to accelerate. The railroad on the
east side of the river was completed to
Albany, and work on the west side was
progressing. The shipping of grain to Great
Britain was becoming more firmly
established. A greater spirit of enterprise
was manifested among merchants and other
citizens to publish abroad the advantages of
soil and climate and position. A number of
fine buildings were erected as follows:
Corbett's three-story brick building, with
solid iron front on First street, between
Washington and Alder, costing forty thousand
dollars; a brick block, of four buildings
occupying a-frontage of one hundred feet on
Front street, and running back eighty feet,
of iron front, costing thirty thousand
dollars, built by Lewis & Flanders; a four
story brick building, having one hundred
feet frontage on First street and eighty
feet on Ash, at a cost of thirty-two
thousand dollars, by Dr. R. Glisan; the
largest business block yet erected, built by
A. P. Ankeny, with frontage of one hundred
feet on First street, and running two
hundred feet to Front street, costing fifty
thousand dollars; an addition by the O. S.
N. Co., to their block on Front street,
forty by ninety feet, costing twenty
thousand dollars; the Protection Engine
House at the corner of First and Jefferson
streets, twenty-six by seventy feet, costing
ten thousand dollars; a new edifice by the
Congregational church, at the corner of
Second and Jefferson streets, fifty by
eighty feet, with spire one hundred and
fifty high, costing twenty-five thousand
dollars; the Bishop Scott Grammar School
building on B street, at the junction of
Fourteenth, thirty by ninety feet of three
stories, and occupying a superb site. Many
smaller buildings were erected this season.
As 1870 fills out a decade, it is not out of
place to give here a somewhat more detailed
list of the occupations then flourishing in
the city. Of hotels there were twenty-two:
The St. Charles, at the corner of First and
Morrison: The International, at the corner
of Front and Morrison; the American
Exchange, at the corner of Front and
Washington; the Occidental, at the corner of
First and Morrison; The Western Hotel, on
Front near Pine; the Pioneer Hotel, on Front
near Ash; The Shakespeare Hotel, at 23 Front
street; the Washington Hotel, corner of
Alder and Second; the New Orleans Hotel, at
the corner of Yamhill and First; the
Wisconsin House, at the corner of Ash and
Front; the Russ House, at 126 Front street;
the Railroad House, on Front near Yamhill;
the St. Louis Hotel, on Front street; the
New York Hotel, at 17 North Front; the
Patton House, at No. 175 Front street; the
Fisk House, on First near Main; the
Cosmopolitan, at the corner of Front and
Stark; the California House, at 13 Stark
street; the Brooklyn Hotel, on First street
near Pine. There were also twelve boarding
houses and nine restaurants. Real estate
agents now numbered six houses; J. S. Daly,
Dean & Bro., William Davidson, Parrish &
Atkinson, Russell & Ferry, Stitzel & Upton.
The wholesale merchants contained many names
in active business; Allen & Lewis, Baum
Bros., Fleischner & Co., Jacob Meyer, L.
White & Co., Seller, Frankeneau & Co., and
Goldsmith & Co. Of retail merchants of that
time there may be named C. S. Silver, S.
Simon, A. Meier, D. Metzgar, W. Masters &
Son, John Wilson, M. Moskowitz, P. Selling,
Loeb Bros., Koshland Bros,, Van Fridagh &
Co., S. Levy, Mrs. C. Levy, Kohn Bros.,
Galland, Goodman & Co., Joseph Harris & Son,
J. M. Breck, M. Franklin, J. M. Fryer & Co.,
Beck & Waldman, Clarke, Henderson & Cook,
Leon Ach, and John Enery. In groceries and
provisions there were the wholesale
merchants Amos, Williams & Myers; Leveredge,
Wadhams & Co., and Corbitt & Macleay; and
thirty-three retailers. In hardware,
Corbett, Failing & Co., Hawley, Dodd & Co.,
E. J. Northrup & Co., and Charles Hopkins.
The druggists were J. A. Chapman, Hodge,
Calef & Co., Smith & Davis,. C. H. Woodward,
S. G. Skidmore, and Whetherford & Co. George
L. Story made a specialty of paints and
oils. There were nine houses of commission
merchants: Allen & Lewis, McCraken, Merrill
& Co., Knapp, Burrell & Co., Everding &
Farrell, George Abernethy, Williams &
Meyers, Everding & Beebe, Janion & Rhoades,
and T. A. Savier & Co. The lumber
manufacturers and merchants were Abrams &
Besser, Smith Bros. & Co., J. M. Ritchie,
and Estes, Stinston & Co. The foundries were
the Eagle, the Oregon Iron Works, the
Willamette Iron Works, Smith Bros. Iron
Works and the Columbia Iron Works. The
furniture dealers were Hurgren & Shindler,
Emil, Lowenstein & Co., W. F. Wilcox, and
Richter & Co. Hat manufacturers were J. C.
Meussdorfer, N. Walker, and Currier & Co.
The flour mills, that of G. W. Vaughn and
McLeran Bros. The physicians were R. Glisan,
J. S. Giltner, J. A. Chapman, J. C.
Hawthorn, A. M. Loryea, W. H. Watkins, R. B.
Wilson, G. Kellogg, J. W. Murray, F.
Poppleton, J. A. Chapman, I. A. Davenport,
H. A. Bodman, S. Parker, F. C. Paine, J. C.
Ryan, F. W. Schule, Robert Patton, J. M.
Roland, J. F. Ghiselin, H. McKinnell,
Charles Schumacher, G. W. Brown, T. J.
Sloan, W. Weatherford, and J. Dickson.
For the attorneys of this as well as other
years the reader is referred to the special
article on the legal profession. The
printers were G. H. Himes and A. G. Walling.
The publications were The Oregonian,
which issued daily and weekly editions and
was published by H. L. Pittock with H. W.
Scott as editor; The Bulletin, James
O'Meara editor; the Oregon Herald, H.
L. Patterson proprietor and Sylvester
Pennoyer editor; the Pacific Christian
Advocate, I. Dillon editor; the
Catholic Sentinel, H. L. Herman editor;
the Oregon Deutshe Zeitung, A. Le
Grand editor, and the Good Templar
with C. Beal as editor. The Oregon Almanac
and city directory were regularly issued by
S. J. McCormick.
The saddlers were J. B. Congle, Samuel
Sherlock & Co., N. Thwing, and Welch &
Morgan. The leather dealers J. A.
Strowbridge and Daniel O. O' Reagan. The
dentists were J. R. Cardwell, C. H. Mack, J.
G. Glenn, J. H. Hatch, J. W. Dodge, William
Koehler, and Friedland & Calder. In the
crockery and glassware trade there were W.
Jackson, H. W. Monnastes, A. D. Shelby, M.
Seller, and J. McHenry.
