“Lew at Large” from “The City of Roses”…….Portland, Oregon. Now, brace yourself, here’s today’s FREE (Facebook Roaming Education Effort): In 1843, Tennessee drifter William Overton and his friend, Boston lawyer Asa Lovejoy were floating down the Willamette River in a canoe when they came upon the beauty of the place we now call Portland. They beached their canoe and they marveled at the beautiful mountains and the rich potential of the many trees they saw. Overton didn’t have the quarter that was required to file a land claim, so he sold half of his 640-acre share to Lovejoy for 25 cents. They began to clear the many trees, build roads and build the first buildings. After a while, Overton decided to move on and sold his half of the share to Francis Pettygrove. Lovejoy was from Massachusetts and he wanted to name the new settlement after his hometown of Boston. Pettygrove was from Maine and wanted to name the new town Portland, after his hometown. They flipped a coin to settle the dispute. Pettygrove won the coin toss two out of three times & that’s how we got Portland, Oregon. The coin used for this decision, now known as the Portland Penny, is on display in the headquarters of the Oregon Historical Society. Why is one of Portland’s nicknames “The City of Roses”? Read on. The climate here is ideal for growing roses. In 1908, a wealthy man, Leo Samuel, had a vibrant rose garden in the front of his house, located near the middle of town. He left a pair of pruning shears by his garden with a note that read anyone who wanted to, could snip as many roses as they wanted. This simple act was mimicked all over Portland. And soon, businesses and homes were growing roses for everyone to enjoy. The nickname,” The City of Roses” was born. Within the Portland Metro Area is Beaverton, headquarters of Nike. Refer to my other FREE post of today for a fascinating read of the history of this Oregon Company.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:08:44 +0000