Big city excitement and small town charm make Portland, Oregon, known as "the City of Roses", one of the favorite destinations in the West. Portland is situated approximately 70 miles from the Pacific in a magnificent setting between the sparkling waters of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. Portland's historic old town, galleries and museums, Saturday Market, and theatre companies will keep visitors busy for weeks! Its lush green parks are perfect for a picnic or an afternoon stroll. Also, Portland is just a short distance from Willamette valley wineries, skiing at Timberline Lodge and all of the excitement and beauty of Oregon's spectacular ocean beaches.


Portland's award winning mass transit system is one of the most extensive and advanced in the U.S. The transit system includes buses, streetcars, historic trollies and the MAX, an urban light rail line. There's also a downtown transit mall and Fareless Square, the downtown free-ride zone. It's fun to take a relaxing ride on the MAX train and watch the Portland world slide by.



Portland Oregon (OR) started as a spot known as "The Clearing" which was on the Willamette about half-way between Oregon City and Fort Vancouver. In 1843, William Overton saw great commercial potential for this land; his only problem was that he lacked the quarter needed to file a land claim. So, he struck a bargain with his partner Asa Lovejoy: for 25 cents, Overton would share his claim to the 640 acre site.

Bored with clearing trees and building roads, Overton sold his half of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove. When it came time to name their new town, Pettygrove and Lovejoy each wanted to name it after his home town. They settled the argument with a coin toss. Pettygrove won, and named it after Portland, Maine; had Lovejoy won, he intended to name it after Boston, Massachusetts.

In its early years, Portland existed in the shadow of Oregon City, the territorial capital twelve miles upstream on the falls of the Willamette. However, Portland was located at the Willamette's head of navigation, the furthest point inland one could reliably reach by ship. This gave it a key advantage over its older peer. It also triumphed over early rivals like Milwaukie. By 1850 Portland had approximately 800 inhabitants, a steam sawmill, a log cabin hotel, and a newspaper, called the Weekly Oregonian.

Portland was the major port in the Pacific Northwest for much of the 19th century, until the 1890s when direct railroad access between the deep water harbor in Seattle and points east by way of Stampede Pass were built. Goods could then be transported from the northwest coast to inland cities without needing to navigate the dangerous bar at the mouth of the Columbia.
With 75 neighborhood elementary and middle schools feeding 10 local high schools, Portland boasts the state?s largest public school system. In addition, Portland Public Schools offer a wide array of charter and magnet schools, specializing in an assortment of programs, including language immersion, fine arts, International Baccalaureate programs, and technical and health specialties.

Portland also offers a large number of private schools that emphasize everything from foreign languages to fine arts to religion. And for parents who choose to teach their own children, Oregon offers one of the most supportive environments in the country for home schooling families.