Portland University was a private, Methodist post-secondary school in

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, ...

, United States. Founded in 1891 in a split from

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

, the school closed in 1900. The campus was located in what is now the University Park neighborhood and later became home of the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

. The original campus building, West Hall, still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Willamette University chancellor Charles Carroll Stratton founded the Methodist school in Portland in 1891.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 202. The school lured away some faculty members and students from Willamette, and even enticed Willamette's president Thomas Van Scoy to serve as dean.Gibby, Susan
Salem Online History: Willamette University.
Salem Public Library. Retrieved on April 8, 2009. In 1891, the school built the Administration Hall that became West Hall.Horner, John B. (1919)
''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''.
The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 273. Portland University opened in September 1891 with an enrollment of 256 students the first year. This was the only building on the campus with a nearby general store, Hemstock & Sons, serving as the bookstore. Located at University Park, the school sold plots of property surrounding the campus to raise funds for the school. They had partnered with the Portland Guarantee Company to sell bonds, using the proceeds from the sale to buy in what is now North Portland.Gauntt, Tom. "Moo-vers and shakers on Waud's Bluff", ''The Oregonian'', September 26, 2004, p. H2. This venture then deeded to the school and sold plots for as much as $550. The location of the campus was on a bluff overlooking the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

, with the river to the west. Much of the area was rural farmland at the time and local homes served as boarding houses for the students. Due to the remoteness, the school offered to have teachers meet new students at the streetcar stop located at University Park for the trek to the school. One impressive home in the area was the university president's home, which was not on campus at the time. Courses of study included Latin, science, art, and literature. The school grew to an enrollment of 500 by 1894 and included a literary department, a school of theology, music and fine arts department, and a college preparatory division. This last division had affiliations around the state with academies including Drain Academy, Lebanon Academy, Ashland Academy, and the

La Creole Academy LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Decline

Following the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...

, the school suffered a series of financial setbacks. The panic led to decreased enrollment and a severe drop off in the sales of the homesites. Bonds for the venture became due in 1896, but the school was unable to make these payments. Thus the property reverted to the original owners of the property. Internal disputes and these financial problems led the school to leave the campus and hold classes in East Portland in 1896 to 1897 after Van Scoy became president of the institution. Other difficulties included a lawsuit in 1898 against the school's affiliated corporation that sold the plots for the surrounding homes. By 1898, the school had abandoned the University Park campus.Herbermann, C. G., Pace, E. A., Pallen, C. B., Shahan, T. J., Wynne, J. J., & MacErlean, A. A. (1907)
''The Catholic encyclopedia: An international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline, and history of the Catholic Church''.
New York: Robert Appleton. Vol. 15, p. 202. OCLC 1017058. Others who served as president of the university were Arthur J. Brown and George Whitaker (1899). Portland University finally closed in May 1900 with many of students and faculty reuniting with Willamette University in Salem. Alumni of the Portland school were then recognized as alumni of Willamette, and most of the records of the school were transferred to Willamette.

Legacy

In 1901, Rev. Alexander Christie with financing from the Congregation of Holy Cross purchased the former campus and opened a Catholic school at the site that would eventually become Columbia University and is now the

.About UP: UP History.
University of Portland. Retrieved April 8, 2009. He was able to purchase the campus itself in trade for a couple of properties owned by archdiocese in Portland and $1. Land sold by Portland University became the subject of a lawsuit by a subsequent landowner over an easement for a road through the campus. West Hall still stands, but was renamed in 1992 as Waldschmidt Hall. The building was added to 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 ...

in 1977.

Notable alumni

* John P. Rusk

History

Decline

Legacy

Notable alumni

References

Further reading