Traveled to Portland (OR) this weekend and had the pleasure of a personal tour of the downtown area. Every place has a story – really, many stories – that engage and inspire me.
In 1843, William Overton saw this area, which had once been heavily inhabited by Chinook Indians until diseases brought by settlers pretty much decimated them. Overton saw a great opportunity to build a city at this clearing along the banks of the Willamette River, so he traveled to Oregon City to file a claim for the land. The land was free, but there was a filing fee of twenty-five cents. Having not a cent to his name, Overton asked his friend, Asa Lovejoy, for the money. Lovejoy gave him the money and the two split the 640 acres.
Lovejoy later sold his part to William Pettygrove. When Pettygrew and Lovejoy were ready to name their city, a problem arose. They couldn’t agree on a name. Pettygrew wanted to name the city after his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Lovejoy wanted to name it after his hometown of Portland, Maine. Neither man would give in, so they agreed to flip a coin – best out of three – to decide. After three flips of a penny, the winner was…well, you already know that!
The penny that the men flipped to determine the name of Portland is on display in the entrance of the Oregon Historical Museum in Portland.
Thanks for the story. I’d never heard it before!
Yes, it was really fascinating.