History of Portland, Oregon
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The history of the city of Portland, Oregon, began in 1843 when business partners William Overton and Asa Lovejoy filed to claim land on the west bank of the Willamette River in Oregon Country. In 184
Provisional Government of Oregon district boundaries drawn in 1843, showing eventual U.S. border and states.
Asa Lovejoy
Minutes of the first meeting of the city council, 1851
Pioneer Courthouse. Built in 1869 and still used today, it is the oldest federal building west of the Mississippi River.
Francis Pettygrove
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Francis William Pettygrove was an American pioneer and merchant who was one of the founders of the cities of Portland, Oregon, and Port Townsend, Washington. Born in Maine, he re-located to the Oregon
History of Portland, Oregon
…to split the claim with Lovejoy, who paid the 25-cent filing fee. Bored with clearing trees and building roads, Overton sold his half of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove of Portland, Maine, in 1845. When it came time to name their new town, Pettygrove and Lovejoy both had the same idea: to name it after his home town…
Francis Pettygrove (center) and others