(KOIN) — If it weren’t for the flip of a coin in 1845, Portland could have been called Boston. The two founders of the city, Francis Pettygrove and Asa Lovejoy, each wanted the city named after their respective hometowns. Pettygrove was from Portland, Maine and Lovejoy hailed from Boston, Massachusetts.
Contents
Was Portland Oregon almost named Boston?
The Portland Penny is an 1835 American copper penny that was used in an 1845 coin toss to name the new town of Portland.Pettygrove retrieved a penny from his pocket, and they agreed to a two-out-of-three-toss contest—Boston if Lovejoy won, Portland if Pettygrove won.
What is Portland Oregon named after Portland Maine?
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.
Which came first Portland Oregon or Portland Maine?
The great city of Portland, Maine was founded on July 4, 1786, and approximately 65 years later came its West Coast counterpart, Portland, Oregon.
Why is it called Stumptown?
Before Stumptown Cold Brew swept the nation, “Stumptown” was an actual town, full of stumps. Portland got this name the old-fashioned way: in the mid-1800s, the city was growing quickly and so land had to be cleared of pesky trees so humans could live here.
What city was named after a coin flip?
Portland’s
The City of Portland’s two founders, Francis Pettygrove from Portland, Maine and Asa Lovejoy from Boston, Massachusetts, both wanted to name the fledgling site—then known as The Clearing—after their respective home towns. The coin toss was decided in 1845 with two out of three tosses which Pettygrove won.
Which settler won the toss and named this city what it is today?
Portland is called Portland because the city’s founder, Francis Pettygrove, won a coin toss.
When did Portland Oregon get its name?
1845
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 1845 the name of Portland was chosen for this community by coin toss. February 8, 1851, the city was incorporated.
What does the word Portland mean?
peninsula on the coast of Dorsetshire, literally “land surrounding a harbor,” Old English Portlanda; see port (n. 1) + land (n.). The city in Maine, U.S.A., took its name in 1786 for the place in England.
Who founded Portland?
William Overton was a pioneer of the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In the mid-1840s he purchased the land claim, along with Asa Lovejoy, for the site which would become Portland, Oregon.
Are there 2 Portlands?
But it’s not often that two oft-compared destinations also share an identical name. Portland, Maine, and Portland, Ore., sit on opposite coasts but have eerily similar reputations. After visiting both, I discovered both concrete historical links and curious cultural similarities.
What is Portland known for?
What is Portland Known For?
- The Saturday Market. Portland is a hodgepodge of everything that’s hip in the US right now, and you can find it all at the Saturday Market.
- Food Truck Scene.
- The Arboretum.
- Thriving Art Scene.
- Distillery Row.
- Coffee Like No Other.
- Foodie Paradise.
- Bicycle Rides.
Is Portland or Portland Maine more North?
Learn how to create your own. While somewhat counterintuitive, the Portland that’s located in Oregon is farther north than the one found in Maine.
What is Portland called Rip City?
Portland Trail Blazers
The nickname Rip City is usually used in the context of the city’s NBA team, the Portland Trail Blazers. The term was coined by the team’s play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 18, 1971, the Blazers’ first season.
Why is Portland considered weird?
Portland has been affectionately referred to as “weird” for decades – perhaps because it has the most strip clubs per capita in the nation or the high prevalence of man buns and mustaches.
What is Oregon’s nickname?
Beaver State
How did Oregon get its name?
Idaho State University professor John Rees proposed a Shoshone origin for the name, based in part on Jonathan Carver’s contact with the Sioux. Rees proposed that the name came from the two words, ogwa (river) and pe-on (west), which would have meant something like ‘River of the West’.
Where does the word Portland come from?
The word Portland is derived from the Old English word Portlanda, which means “land surrounding a harbor”.
What means Oregon?
In a 2004 article for the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Professor Thomas Love and Smithsonian linguist Ives Goddard argue that Rogers chose the word based on exposure to either of the Algonquian words wauregan and olighin, both meaning “good and beautiful (river)”, but in Rogers’ day referring to the Ohio River.
What is meant by Portland cement?
A. Portland cement is the product obtained by pulverizing clinker, consisting of hydraulic calcium silicates to which some calcium sulfate has usually been provided as an interground addition.The strength and other properties of concrete are mainly derived from the hydration of tricalcium and dicalcium silicates.
What is the oldest building in Portland Oregon?
The Hallock & McMillan building
The Hallock & McMillan building in downtown Portland is a vital piece of Oregon’s history. Built in 1857, it’s the oldest standing commercial building in Portland. It’s so old that Oregon wasn’t even Oregon when it was built – its statehood wasn’t established until 1859.
