The Pittock Block is a historic building in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, occupying a

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. In a city with a grid system, the block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are th ...

between SW 9th and 10th Avenues, SW Stark and Washington Streets, and west of

O'Bryant Square Darcelle XV Plaza (formerly O'Bryant Square) is a square that was a small park and fountain at the intersection of Southwest Park Avenue and Southwest Harvey Milk Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It received the current n ...

History

Before the Pittock Block was built, the site was occupied by the home of

Henry L. Pittock Henry Lewis Pittock (March 1, 1835 (some sources cite 1836) – January 28, 1919) was an England, English-born American American pioneers, pioneer, publisher, newspaper editor, and wood and paper magnate. He was active in Republican Party (U.S.) ...

, the publisher of ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

''. Pittock was preparing to move into the

Pittock Mansion The Pittock Mansion is a French Renaissance-style château in the West Hills of Portland, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1914 as a private home for London-born '' Oregonian'' publisher Henry Pittock and his wife, Georgiana Burton Pittock ...

and leased the entire block to a California investor with the requirement that a "worthy" building named after Pittock would be built on the site. In May 1913, architects Doyle, Patterson & Beach announced they had been awarded the $700,000 contract to construct the Pittock Block, with construction to begin immediately. According to a front-page story in the May 25, 1913, edition of ''

'':"One-half of the building will be eight stories in height, with frontage on the Washington Street side, while the Stark Street side will be three stories high. In addition to a deep basement there will be a sub-basement on the part of the block facing Tenth street. The

Northwestern Electric Company Northwestern or North-western or North western may refer to: * Northwest, a direction * Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois ** The Northwestern Wildcats, this school's intercollegiate athletic program ** No ...

, for which the structure is to be erected, will occupy a part of the West Park street side and all of the ground floor on the Stark Street side. The remainder of the ground floor will be designed for stores. The upper floors will be used for office purposes. The building will be of reinforced concrete construction." Since 1987, it has been on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Tenants

The Pittock Block
is home to a NWAX Point of Presence (Portland NAP), Portland's

Internet exchange point Internet exchange points (IXes or IXPs) are common grounds of Internet Protocol, IP networking, allowing participant Internet service provider, Internet service providers (ISPs) to exchange data destined for their respective networks. IXPs are ...

. Other tenants of the Pittock Block include

City Club of Portland The City Club of Portland is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic organization based in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1916, the organization had approximately 1500 members and a paid staff of 4 in 2013. The former Mayor of Portla ...

and the administrative offices of the

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the "Portland Symphony Society" in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. It ...

.About Oregon Symphony
from the Symphony's website

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Architecture, National Register of Historic Places, Oregon 1914 establishments in Oregon A. E. Doyle buildings Chicago school architecture in Portland, Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Buildings and structures in Southwest Portland, Oregon Portland Historic Landmarks

History

Tenants

See also

References

External links