| First landing at Portland by Brig
Maryland, Capt.
John H. Couch |
1840 |
| First land claim made by William Johnson |
1842 |
| First building built, a shed by William
Overton, at the foot of Washington St. |
1842 |
| First residence built, the cabin of
William Johnson at SW Curry Ave. & Macadam Ave. |
1843 |
| First cargo landed at the foot of
Washington Street, from the bark Toulon |
1845 |
| First legal landowner Gen.
Amos Lawrence
Lovejoy |
1844 |
| First time the name Portland was used,
after
Francis W. Pettygrove and
A. Lawrence Lovejoy
tossed an 1835 penny. Pettygrove won and named the town
for his hometown, Portland, Maine |
1845 |
| First physician and school teacher was
Dr. Ralph Wilcox |
1845 |
| First ferry (a single canoe) across the
Willamette established with intermittent service |
1845 |
| First regular ferry service, landing at
Taylor street. |
1848 |
| First business opens, the blacksmith
shop of James Terwilliger, located at First and Morrison
streets. |
1846 |
| First double cabin and hotel, operated
by John Waymire |
1846 |
| First tannery north of Mexico and west
of the Rockies, operated by Daniel H. Lowsdale. |
1846 |
| First frame construction residence built
at SW 2nd, near Washington |
1847 |
| First fruit tree, owned by Henderson
Luelling |
1847 |
| First politician and statesman, Col.
William King |
1848 |
| First church begun, Methodist church at
SW 3rd & Taylor (it was finished in 1850) |
1848 |
| First water-driven sawmill. |
1849 |
| First steam-driven sawmill, near foot of
Jefferson. |
1850 |
| First wagon-road out of Portland - the
planked Canyon Road, to Tualatin plains |
1851 |
| Portland chartered by Territorial
Legislation |
1851 |
| First mayor was Hugh D. O'Bryant |
1851 |
| First bill was paid by the City of
Portland, for three brass candlesticks ($3.) and one box
of whale sperm candles ($26.95) |
1851 |
| First budget, $1,224.63 |
1851 |
| First dog licensed |
1855 |
| First organized attempt to furnish water
to the city, which came from Caruthers Creek, with a dam
at 7th Ave. The system was sold to the city of Portland
in 1887. |
1857 |
| First railroad, Portland to Milwaukie |
1869 |
| First horse car |
1871 |
| First park was the North Park Blocks
(South Park blocks were established in 1870, and
Washington Park purchased in 1871) |
1869 |
| First Sewer |
1873 |
| First Street light, was powered by the
Steamship State of California, at SW 1st &
Flanders |
1879 |
| First street assessment, for a wood &
block pavement from Front to First street, on Oak. |
1880 |
| First paid fire department |
1882 |
| First city zoo |
1889 |
| First transcontinental railroad into
Portland (Northern Pacific) |
1883 |
| First bridge over the Willamette (the
Morrison) |
1887 |
| First tramway to Portland Heights |
1887 |
| Fulton Park Railway established |
1889 |
| First Electric Car |
1890 |
| First hard surface street |
1891 |
| First city ferry, at Albina |
1895 |
| First electrical long distance
transmission attempted from Oregon City to Front Street,
in Portland |
1889 |
| First gasoline bus, on 39th Ave. |
1924 |
| First one-way street |
1924 |
| First trolley bus, Eastmoreland |
1936 |
