772 m. N. of San Francisco. Pop. (1890), 46,385; (1900), 90,426, of whom 25,876 were foreign-born (6943 Chinese); (1910 census) 207,214. Portland is served by the Northern Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Canadian Pacific, the Great Northern and other railways, by transpacific vessels to Hong-Kong and Yokohama, by coast-wise vessels to San Francisco, to ports on Puget Sound, in British Columbia, and in Alaska, and by river boats sailing 100 m. farther up the Willamette and up the Columbia and the Clearwater to Lewiston, Idaho. The city is built on both sides of the river (which is crossed by five bridges), and covers about 44 sq. m. On the western side the ground rises gradually for a distance of ii to 1% m., and then rises abruptly 500-1000 ft. to “ Portland Heights ” and “ Council Crest, ” beyond the much-broken surface of which rises the Coast range; on the eastern side a slightly rolling surface extends to the foothills of the Cascade Mountains; From “ Portland Heights ” there are fine views of the Columbia and Willamette valleys, and, particularly, of the snow-clad summits of Mt Hood, Mt Iefferson, Mt St Helen's, Mt Adams and Mt Rainier (or Tacoma). In the residence districts (King's Hill, Nob Hill, Portland Heights, Willamette Heights, Hawthorne Avenue, &c.) are pleasantly shaded streets, and grounds decorated with shrubs, especially roses, which sometimes bloom as late as January-an annual “Rose Festival” is held here in June. The city has 205 acres in parks and numerous beautiful drives. It has a fine climate, the mean temperature during the winter months from 1874 to 1903 was 41° F.; the mean summer temperature for the same period 65° F. For the year ending the 31st of May 1900 the death-rate was reported to be only 9 per 1000, and in 1907 to be only 8-28 per 1000. The city's water is brought through a pipe 30 m. in length from Bull Run river, which is fed by Bull Run Lake at an elevation of more than 3000 ft. in the Cascade Mountains.
Among the prominent buildings are the Court House; the City Hall, containing the rooms of the Oregon Historical Society; the Customs House; the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral; the Public Library (with 75,000 volumes in 1908); several tall office buildings with frames of steel; and the Art Museum (1905). There are large grain elevators and miles of wharfs and docks. Among educational institutions are the law and medical departments of the University of Oregon, Hill Military Academy (1901) and Columbia University (Roman Catholic, 1901). The Oregonian, which was established lgere in 1850, is one of the most influential newspapers on the Pacific
lPhe harbour is accessible for vessels of 26 ft. draught and the city's leading industry is the shipment by water and by rail of fish (especially salmon) and of the products (largely lumber, wheat and fruits) of the rich Willamette and Columbia valleys. It is also an important jobbing centre. The value of the exports in 1908 amounted to $16,652,850 and the value of the imports to $2,937,513; the foreign trade is chiefly with Great Britain and its possessions, and with the Orient, where wheat and flour are exchanged for raw silk, tea and manila and other fibres. Portland is the principal manufacturing city of the state. The total value of its factory product in 1905 was $28,651,321. The principal manufactures were lumber and timber products ($3,577,465) and flour and grist mill products (S2,712,735); other important manufactures were packed meat, planing-mill products, foundry and machine-shop products, railway cars (repaired), cordage and twine. and canned and preserved fish (salmon), oysters and fruits and vegetables. Portland, named after Portland, Maine, was founded in 1845 by two real-estate men from New England, and was chartered as a city in 1851. Its early growth was promoted by the demand for provisions from California soon after the discovery of gold there, and although a considerable portion was swept by fire in 1873 the city had a population of nearly 20,000 before railway communication with the East was established by the Northern Pacific in 1883. East Portland and Albina were annexed to the city in July 1891. The Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair was held in Portland in 1905 in commemoration of the expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to this region in ISOS. The forestry building, 205 ft. long by IOS ft. wide and built of logs of Oregon fir 6 ft. or more in diameter and 54 ft. long, and a building devoted entirely to the subject of irrigation, were of unusual interest. The forestry building is now maintained as a museum chiefly for timber and timber products.
PORTLAND, ISLE OF, properly a peninsula of the coast
of Dorsetshire, England, as a prolongation of a narrow ridge
of shingle, Chesil Bank (q.v.), connects it with the mainland.
Pop. (1901), 15,262. It is 4 m. long and nearly 1¾ in extreme
breadth, with an area of about 4½ sq. m. The shores are wild
and precipitous, and Portland is inaccessible from the sea except
towards the south. The highest point, close upon 500 ft.,
is the Verne hill in the north. Wave action is seen in the
numerous caverns, and south-east of Portland Bill, the southern
extremity of the isle, is a bank called the Shambles, between
which and the land there fiows a dangerous current called the
Race of Portland. A raised beach is seen at Portland Bill.
The substratum of the island is Kimeridge Clay, above which
rests beds of sand and strata of Oolitic limestone, widely famed as
a building stone. Extensive quarries, which are Crown property,
have supplied the materials for St Paul's Cathedral and many
other important public buildings. In the “ dirt-bed ” resting
upon the Oolitic strata numerous specimens of petrified wood
are found, some of great size. The soil, though shallow, is
fertile, and mutton fed on the grass has a peculiar rich flavour.
Quarrying, fishing and agriculture are the chief industries.
Several curious local customs are retained by the inhabitants.
A joint railway of the Great Western and London & South
Western companies runs south from Weymouth to Portland
(4¾ m.) and Easton (8½ m.) on the isle. The isle contains a
convict prison with accommodation for about 1500 prisoners.
Portland Castle, built by Henry VIII. in 1520, is generally
occupied by the commander of the engineers or of the regiment
stationed on the island. On a rock on the eastern side are
remains of a more ancient fortress, Bow and Arrow Castle,
ascribed to William Rufus.
A harbour of refuge, begun in 1847 under the direction of the Admiralty, was completed some fifteen years later. A breakwater stretching in a northerly direction from the north-east corner of the island partially enclosed a large area of water naturally sheltered on the south and west. An inner arm ran nearly east from the island and terminated in a masonry head and fort, and an outer detached arm bent to the north and terminated in a circular fort, a narrow entrance for shipping being left between the two. It was formed of a rubble mound quarried by convict labour at the summit of the island, and was lowered by a wire-rope incline to the sea. The harbour thus made was open on the north to Weymouth and the Channel, but the necessity for greater protection from torpedo attack made it advisable to complete the enclosure. Accordingly the Naval Works Acts of 1895 and subsequent years sanctioned works for closing the gap—about 2 m. long—between the end of the outer breakwater and the Bincleaves rocks near Weymouth, by two new breakwaters. One of these runs nearly east from the Bincleaves shore and is about 4642 ft. long, while from its extremity the other, about 4465 ft. long, stretches in a south-east direction towards the old outer breakwater, passages for navigation about 700 ft. wide separating it from its neighbours at each end. These new structures also consist of rubble mounds. The defensive harbour thus completely enclosed has an area of 2200 acres to the one-fathom line, of which 1500 acres have a depth of not less than 30 ft. at low water. There is no dockyard at Portland, but the watering and coaling arrangements for the supply of the fleet are of considerable importance. There is a coaling jetty and camber for the storage of both sea-borne and land-borne coal, with hydraulic appliances for handling it. The harbour and island are strongly fortified.
The isle of Portland is not mentioned in the time of the Romans. In 837 it was the scene of an action against the Danes, and in 1052 it was plundered by Earl Godwine. In 1643 the parliamentary party made themselves masters of the island and castle, but shortly afterwards these were regained by the Royalists through a clever stratagem, and not recovered again by the forces of the parliament till 1646.
PORTLANDIAN, in geology, a subdivision of the Upper
Jurassic system that includes the strata lying between the
Kimeridge Clay and the Purbeck beds. These rocks are well
exposed on the isle of Portland, Dorsetshire, where they have
been quarried for more than 200 years. J. Mitchell appears
to have been the first to use the term “ Portland lime” in
geological literature (1788); T. Webster spoke of the “ Portland
Oolite” in 1812. In England the strata are very variable; the
upper part consists principally of limestones, shelly, oolitic or
