The Simon Benson House is a 19th-century house located 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 Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It was listed 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 ...

in 1983.

History

The Queen Anne style house was built of wood-frame construction in 1900. Norwegian immigrant

Simon Benson Simon Benson (born Simen Bergersen Klæve, September 9, 1851 – August 5, 1942) was a Norwegian-born American businessman and philanthropist who was active in the city of Portland, Oregon. Early life Simon Benson was born Simen Bergersen Kl� ...

(1851-1942) was a leading businessman, innovator, and philanthropist. Benson helped build

Benson Polytechnic High School Benson Polytechnic High School (BHS) is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. Its campus is located in the Central Eastside commercial area of Portland, Oregon, United States. Students are given a special em ...

and gave the iconic bronze

Benson Bubbler Benson Bubblers are iconic bronze drinking fountains named after businessman and philanthropist Simon Benson (1852–1942), mostly located in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United States. In 1912, Benson donated $10,000 for the purchase and ...

drinking fountains to the City of Portland. He had the house built as a residence for his family. The Benson family moved from the house in 1913 when the Benson Hotel was completed. During the 1930s, the house was turned into a boarding house, and then later divided into apartments. The house was originally located at SW 11th and Clay Avenue. It was moved to its current location at SW Park and Montgomery Street at Portland State University (PSU) in 2000. It is currently owned by

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

and is the former site of the PSU Alumni Association.

References

External links

*
Floor plans
* 1900 establishments in Oregon Houses completed in 1900 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Portland State University buildings Queen Anne architecture in Portland, Oregon Relocated buildings and structures in Oregon Portland Historic Landmarks {{Oregon-stub

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links