Timeline of Portland, Oregon

19th century

1850 – The Oregonian newspaper begins publication.

1851

Portland incorporated.

Hugh O'Bryant becomes mayor.

City's first general merchandise store opens, becoming Olds & King in 1878.

Portland Public Schools is founded.

1855 – Lone Fir Cemetery established.

1857 – Aaron Meier's mercantile store, predecessor of Meier & Frank, in business.

1860 – Portland Gas Light Company in operation.

1864 – Library Association of Portland founded.

1866 – Oregon Herald newspaper begins publication.

1868 – Population: 6,717.

1871 – City Park established.

1872 – Portland Street Railway horsecars begin operating.

1875 – Good Samaritan Hospital founded.

1880 – Willamette University College of Medicine relocates to Portland.

1881 – Unsightly beggar ordinance effected.

1882 – River View Cemetery established.

1883 – Northern Pacific Railway begins operating.

1885 – Web-Foot Cook Book published.[1]

1886 – Oregon Staats Zeitung newspaper begins publication.

1887 – First Morrison Bridge, the first bridge across the Willamette River in Portland (and predecessor of the current Morrison Bridge), opens.

1888 – Portland Zoo established.

1890

Portland Hotel in business.

Population: 46,385.

1891

The first Madison Street Bridge (predecessor of the Hawthorne Bridge) opens

Albina and East Portland become part of city.

1892 – Portland Art Association established.

1893 – Nov. 1: A streetcar plunges into the Willamette River from the Madison Street Bridge, the worst streetcar accident in the city's history

1895 – City Hall built.

1896 – Union Station opens.

1898 – Oregon Historical Society established.

1900s–1940s

1900

Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society begins publication.

Population: 90,426.

1901 – Columbia University and Hill Military Academy established.

1903 – Olmsted Portland park plan created.

1905 – June 1: Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition opens.

1907

Portland Rose Festival begins.

Portland Mill Strike of 1907 begins in March by lumber mill workers organized by the Industrial Workers of the World. The strike inspired unionization campaigns of bakers and sewer workers in Portland but had been called off by the end of April without winning its demands.

1908 – Reed College founded.

1909 – Audubon Society and Museum Art School founded.

1910

Hawthorne Bridge opens.

Population: 207,214.

1912 – Steel Bridge and Globe Theatre open.

1913 – Broadway Bridge and Central Library building open.

1915 – Linnton and St. Johns become part of city.

1916

City Club of Portland established.

Flatiron Building constructed.

1917

Interstate Bridge opens.

Rose Test Garden established.

Portland Public Auditorium opens.

1919 – Louis' Oyster Bar in business.

1920 – Population: 258,288.

1920s – Pacific International Livestock Exposition facility built.

1921 – Blue Mouse Theatre in business.

1922

Hoyt Arboretum founded.

KGW radio begins broadcasting.

1924 – Portland Junior Symphony established.

1925 – Sellwood Bridge opens.

1926

Second (and current) Burnside Bridge opens.

Ross Island Bridge opens.

Hollywood Theatre and Temple Beth Israel built.

1927 – Terminal Sales Building constructed.

1928 - Portland Publix Theater and Geller's Theatre open.

1930 – Swan Island Airport built.

1932 – Portland Art Museum building opens.

1938 – Lewis & Clark College active.

1940 – Portland Airport built.

1944 – Oregon Museum of History, Science, and Industry established.

1945 – Portland Symphonic Choir formed.

1946 – Vanport Extension Center (college) and Portland Children's Museum established.

1948

May 30: Flood destroys the community of Vanport.

Forest Park established.

1950s–1990s

1950 – Last city streetcar lines (of the pre-MAX and Portland Streetcar era) cease operation.

1951 – The Portland Hotel closes and is torn down.

1952 – KPTV, a UHF station initially, inaugurates television broadcasting in Portland (and Oregon).

1953 – KOIN-TV, city's first VHF television station, begins broadcasting.

1955 – Portland State College established.

1956

Rose City Transit established, taking over mass transit service in Portland.

KGW begins its television broadcasting.

National College of Naturopathic Medicine established.

1957 – Metropolitan Service District (regional governmental agency) established.

1958

Portland Development Commission formed.

Last interurban streetcar lines (until MAX), to Oregon City and Bellrose, cease operating.

Portland Zoo Railway begins operating.

Third (and current) Morrison Bridge opens.

1959

Oregon Centennial Exposition and International Trade Fair held.

Sister city relationship established with Sapporo, Japan.

Portland Zoo (now Oregon Zoo) moves to its current site in Washington Park.

1960

Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Lloyd Center open.

Population: 372,676; metro 881,961.

1961 – Portland Community College established.

1962

March 15: KATU television begins broadcasting.

April 14: Packy is born at the Portland Zoo, the first elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in 44 years.

October 12: Windstorm, widely known as the Columbus Day Storm.

Cinema 21 in business.

1964 – Christmas flood of 1964

1965 – Pittock Mansion (house museum) opens.

1967 – Portland Japanese Garden opens.

1968 – KJIB and KBOO radio begin broadcasting.

1969 – Tri-Met (Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon) established, replacing Rose City Transit.

1970 – People's Food Co-op founded.

1971

Powell's Books in business.

Northwest Film Study Center established.

World Forestry Center opens.

1972

April 15: 1972 Portland–Vancouver tornado.

First National Bank Tower built.

Food Front Cooperative Grocery organized.

1973

January 2: Neil Goldschmidt becomes mayor.

November 15: Fremont Bridge opens.

1974

Oregon Health & Science University established.

Willamette Week newspaper begins publication.

1975 – Blue Sky Gallery founded.

1977 – Portland Transit Mall and Adventist Medical Center building open.

1978 – Waterfront Park opens.

1979 – Save the Refugees Fund (now Mercy Corps) headquartered in city.

1980 – Frank Ivancie becomes mayor.

1982

Oregon Food Bank active.

The Portland Building is constructed.

Wieden & Kennedy in business.

1983

U.S. Bancorp Tower built.

Sister city relationship established with Guadalajara, Mexico.

1984

Pioneer Courthouse Square opens.

KOIN Center built.

KKCW radio begin broadcasting

1985 – Bud Clark becomes mayor.

1986 – MAX Light Rail begins operating.

1987

Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial opens.

Sister city relationships established with Ashkelon, Israel; and Ulsan, South Korea.

1988

Oregon Brewers Festival and Waterfront Blues Festival begin.

Sister city relationships established with Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Khabarovsk, USSR; and Suzhou, China.

1989 – Oregon Ballet Theatre formed.

1990

Bicycle Transportation Alliance organized.

Population: city 437,319; metro 1,523,741.

1991 – Sister city relationship established with Mutare, Zimbabwe.

1992 – First Portland Farmers Market

1993 – Vera Katz becomes mayor.

1994 – Reading Frenzy and Higgins Restaurant in business.

1995 – Rose Garden arena opens.

1996

January–February: Willamette Valley Flood of 1996.

City website online (approximate date).

Earl Blumenauer becomes Oregon's 3rd congressional district representative.

Portland Institute for Contemporary Art founded.

1998

The 60-year-old Rodgers variety store chain closes its last three stores.

Street Roots begins publication.

1999

Stumptown Coffee in business.

Urban Greenspaces Institute founded.

21st century

2000

Portland Classical Chinese Garden opens.

The Portland Mercury newspaper begins publication.

Red and Black Cafe founded.

Hip Mama relocates from Oakland, California to Portland.

2001

Portland Streetcar begins operating.

Portland International Airport terminal built.

Portland Tribune newspaper begins publication.

Eastbank Esplanade dedicated.

Portland Indymedia active (approximate date).

2002

Flag of Portland, Oregon design adopted.

Willamette Industries taken over by Weyerhaeuser.

Pear homeless youth nonprofit founded.

2003

Time-Based Art Festival begins.

Voodoo Doughnut and Park Kitchen in business.

Sister city relationship established with Bologna, Italy.

2004 – Rose Garden arena bankruptcy.

2005

Tom Potter becomes mayor.

Velveteria: The Museum of Velvet Paintings established.

2006

Portland Aerial Tram begins operating.

The Meier & Frank chain is succeeded by Macy's.

2007

WatershedPDX founded.

Ace Hotel in business.

2008

December: Snowstorm brings Portland's heaviest snowfall in 40 years.

Bunk Sandwiches in business.

2009

Sam Adams becomes mayor.

July: 2009 Pacific Northwest heat wave.

Beast restaurant in business.

BrainSilo founded.

2010 – Population: city 583,776; metro 2,226,009.

2011

October 6: Occupy Portland begins.

Street Books begins operating.

Fictional Portlandia (TV series) begins national broadcast.

2012

Suzanne Bonamici becomes Oregon's 1st congressional district representative.

Portland befriends the city of Utrecht, Netherlands.

2013 – Charlie Hales becomes mayor.

2015

September 12: Tilikum Crossing, Portland's first new Willamette River bridge since 1973, opens to the public.

December: Rain storm.

2016

February 29: New Sellwood Bridge opens, replacing 1925 bridge