Portland
Portland names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 2 of them are described by more than one encyclopedia.
Portland the chief city of Maine
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the chief city of Maine. It is situated on a peninsula of Casco Bay. The city commands a beautiful view of water and land. The harbor is studded with many islets which form popular places of summer residence. Many wealthy people of Boston and New York have summer homes here. Portland is a strongly fortified naval station . The first permanent settlement on this part of the coast was made in 1632. The town was destroyed by the Indians in 1676, and again in 1690. In 1716 there were but fifteen male inhabitants. The first town meeting was held in 1719. The city maintains an efficient system of schools and other departments of public service . There is a public library of about 60,000 volumes. The Maine Historical Library of 14,000 volumes is cared for at Portland. An extensive system of parks adds to the natural beauty of the city. The ocean drives are considered among the finest in the world. Portland derives its importance chiefly from commerce and manufactures. During the winter season, when the St. Lawrence River is closed to navigation, it is the seaport of Canada. Several lines of railroads center here. Extensive docks, elevators, and warehouses afford facilities for loading and unloading. Several lines of steamers ply to European ports. It has also a heavy coast trade with the various cities of the Atlantic. Counting large and small, there are said to be over seven hundred manufacturing establishments, with an annual output of goods valued at from $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 a year. Building iron, foundry work, locomotives, engines, and boilers form an important line of manufacture. There are also boot and shoe factories, a match factory, petroleum refineries, chemical works, carriage and sleigh shops, and extensive meat packing establishments. The city is the center of a large lumber trade and of lumber products such as sash and doors. Fishing is an important industry. Portland takes no little pride in its roll of noted men: Longfellow and N. P. Willis, the poets; Neal Dow, the temperance orator; Senator William Pitt Fessenden and Thomas B. Reed, a speaker of the House, were born at Portland. The house in which Longfellow was born still stands near the seashore. It is now a tenement. In 1900 the population was returned at 50,145. Population, 1910, about 60,000.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city, port of entry, and county-seat of Cumberland co., Me.; on Casco Bay, and on the Boston and Maine, the Grand Trunk, the Portland and Rochester, the Maine Central, and other railroads; 105 miles N. E. of Boston. direct steamboat connections with Boston and New York, and two weekly steamship lines to Europe. The city is delightfully laid out along a peninsula, in the harbor, protected by a massive breakwater. Here are a custom house, City Hall, which contains a Municipal Organ, postoffice, United States Marine Hospital, the Maine General Hospital, headquarters of the Maine Historical Society, Portland Society of Natural History, the Wadsworth mansion, the Longfellow homestead, etc. The city has waterworks, several libraries, electric light and street railroad plants, National, State, and savings banks, Portland School for the Deaf, Old Men's Home, Old Ladies' Home, St. Elizabeth's Academy, etc. Portland has over 700 manufacturing establishments, with an annual output valued at over $15,000,000. The industries include boot and shoe factories, sugar refineries, rolling-mills, foundries, machine shops, locomotive works, engine and boiler works, petroleum refineries, match factories, chemical works, tanneries, paint and oil works, carriage and sleigh factories, manufactures of stoneware, je jewelry, edge tools, varnishes, soap and lamps, meat packing establishments, coopering establishments, lumber mills, etc. Shipbuilding is still carried on, though of less importance, relatively, than in former years. Fishing and the shell-fish industry are extensively pursued. Portland was settled by the English in 1632; was burned by the Indians in 1676; and by the French and Indians in 1690; was rebuilt in 1715; burned by the English in 1775; and rebuilt in 1783. It received its city charter in 1832. Pop. (1910) 58,571; (1920) 69,272.
Portland a city, port of entry
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city, port of entry, and county-seat of Multnomah co., Ore.; on the Willamette river, and on the Northern Pacific, Southern Pacific, Great Northern, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, Canadian Pacific, and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroads; 12 miles above the Columbia river, 120 miles from the ocean, and 772 miles N. of San Francisco, Cal. The city is built on sloping ground; is surrounded by beautiful scenery; and has a most enjoyable climate, being much warmer in winter than many Southern cities. Business Interests. - The Willamette river is navigable for large vessels, and a considerable trade is carried on with Great Britain, Japan, China, Hawaii, and the South American republics. The value of exports in 1920, which include wheat, flour, wool, fish, timber, etc., was $48,812,821, and the imports $7,042,702. There are more than 800 manufacturing establishments, with an output valued at more than $50,000,000 per annum. The principal manufactures are pig iron, woolen goods, flour, furniture, cordage, carriages, clothing, boots and shoes, engine boilers, etc. There are about 20 National, State, and private banks, and many daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals. The assessed property valuations exceed $226,000,000 and the total bonded debt is over $12,000,000. Public Interests. The city has an area of 66.3 square miles; 1,350 miles of streets; a system of waterworks, owned by the city that cost nearly $12,700,000, with 755 miles of mains. The streets are lighted by electricity at a cost of The police about $200,000 per annum. department costs annually about $382,- 000, and the fire department about $562,000. There is a public school enrollment of over 40,000 pupils, and an annual expenditure for public education of over $2,000,000. The annual cost of maintaining the city government is over $2,800,000. Portland contains the Medical and Law Schools of the State University, Portland University, Portland Academy, Library Association, Good Samaritan, St. V Vin Vincent, and Portland Hospitals, etc. History. Portland was settled in 1845 and received its city charter in 1851. It annexed the cities of East Portland and Albina in 1891. The city has had a marvelous growth and in proportion to its population has been said to be the wealthiest city in the United States. Pop. (1910) 207,214; (1920) 258,288. Vol. VII-Cyc
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the largest city of Oregon. It is the western terminus of the Northern Pacific and the northwestern terminus of the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. It is situated on the Willamette River at the head of deep water navigation, twelve miles above its junction with the Columbia, and about one hundred twenty miles from the Pacific Ocean. The river is crossed by several bridges. The city lies on slopes reaching back to the foothills. Snow-covered mountains may be seen in the distance. The city has a large manufacturing and distributing business. Lumber, flour, woolen goods, furniture, wagons and carriages, cordage, boots and shoes , paper bags, saddles, harnesses, soap, and candles are made here. There are also breweries, spice mills, creameries, and paint works. Power developed at the falls of the Willamette at Oregon City, twelve miles distant, is brought in over wires. It is used for manufacturing purposes, for lighting the city, and to operate street railways. The city has an immense dry dock and extensive wharves. Vessels load direct with wheat, wool, fish, timber, and lumber products for American ports and those of Great Britain , Japan, China, Hawaii, and South America . Oats, hay, hops, and salmon are important exports. Portland is a center of wholesaling. The Lewis and Clark Exposition, named in honor of the early American explorers of this region, was held here in 1905. Buildings and grounds occupied a space of many acres. There were notable exhibits of minerals, fruit, agricultural products, lumber and wooden articles, manufactured goods, and Indian relics and curiosities. The population of Portland in 1900 was 90,426. It is supposed that the city is growing at the rate of about 3,000 a year, which in 1910 gives 120,000 inhabitants.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The two Portlands have gone in opposite directions since Collier's wrote in 1921. Portland, Maine, then 69,272 people, counted 68,408 in the 2020 census — almost exactly the same city by headcount, though its industry has gone: the locomotive works, match factory, sugar refinery and meat packers are long closed, and it lost its winter role as "the seaport of Canada" when icebreaking and later the St. Lawrence Seaway (opened 1959) kept Montreal open year-round; tourism, cruise ships and a celebrated restaurant scene in the restored Old Port now carry it. Portland, Oregon, listed with 800 factories and $48 million of exports, has grown from about 258,000 residents in 1920 to roughly 650,000, with a metropolitan area near 2.5 million, a light-rail system opened in 1986, and an electronics corridor west of the city nicknamed the Silicon Forest. Aiton's 1910 remark that Longfellow's house "is now a tenement" no longer applies to the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, which the Maine Historical Society has run as a museum since 1901.
Written for this edition, 2026.