It all began for Portland in 1843 when Tennessee drifter William Overton and Massachusetts lawyer Asa Lovejoy beached their canoe on the banks of the Willamette River. Overcome by the beauty of the area, Overton saw great potential for this mountain-ringed, timber-rich land. His only problem was that he lacked the 25 cents needed to file a land claim. So, he struck a bargain with Lovejoy: In return for a quarter, Overton would share his claim to the 640-acre site known as "The Clearing."
| Soon bored with clearing trees and building roads, Overton drifted on, selling his half of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove. The new partners, Lovejoy and Pettygrove, however, couldn't decide on a name for their budding township. Lovejoy was determined to name the site after his hometown of Boston, while Pettygrove was equally adamant about his native Portland, Maine. They decided to flip a coin, now known as the "Portland Penny," to settle the argument. Pettygrove won on two tosses out of three. |
|
|
Portland Now
These days, there is a lot to do in Portland - and if you have a question, courteous native Oregonians are happy to help you. It's easy to see why Portland has recently been named both the best place to live in the U.S. (Men's Journal, 2006) and one of the best 12 travel destinations in the world (Frommer's, 2007). Here just a few of the countless interesting things you can do while you're here: