Did You Know? Portland, Oregon Was Named After Portland, Maine

No matter which Portland has the bigger population or the NBA team, let’s not forget which one came first.

As settlers traveled west along the 2,170-mile Oregon Trail, they began clearing forests of fir, cedar, hemlock, and maple to build communities along the Willamette River.

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The area quickly became known as ‘Stumptown’ for the countless tree stumps left behind from the heavy logging.

According to Travel Portland, Oregon’s Portland was officially founded in 1843 and named two years later after a coin toss to decide between Boston, after Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, after Portland, Maine—a decision memorialized by the ‘Portland Penny,' which is on display at the Oregon Historical Society.

A few decades earlier, in 1786, citizens of Falmouth here in Maine separated from Falmouth Neck and named their new town Portland.

The new town was named after the Isle of Portland, off the coast of Dorset, England. The name itself comes from the Old English word Portlanda, meaning ‘land surrounding a harbor,’ making the other Portland’s name indirectly tied back to both Maine and England.

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And there you have it! While our Portland’s population is only about a tenth the size of the other Portland’s, we were here first.

What are your thoughts on this? Did you already know that? We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to join the conversation by messaging us on the app.

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