Philip A. Marquam (February 28, 1823 – May 8, 1912) was a lawyer, judge, legislator, and real estate developer in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Early life

Philip Marquam was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, on February 28, 1823, to Philip Winchester Marquam and Charlotte Mercer Poole.Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Chronicles of the Builders of the Commonwealth: Historical Character Study.
The History Company, 1892. The family later moved to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. There Philip attended law school in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

. He went to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

as a "49er" during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

of 1849, and was elected judge in

Yolo County Yolo County (; Wintun: ''Yo-loy''), officially the County of Yolo, is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 216,403. Its county seat is Woodland. Yolo County is incl ...

.Hazen, David W. (April 2, 1934). "Romantic Portland Streets: Marquam

ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

Road Named in Honor of Philip A. Marquam, One of Portland's Picturesque Pioneers, Who Came to City in 1851". ''

The Morning 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 U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850 ...

'', p. 9.

Oregon

In August 1851, Marquam moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, then a small town of under 1,000 inhabitants. For many years he was the largest landowner in

Multnomah County, Oregon Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thou ...

, counting among his holdings Portland's Fulton District and his homestead on

Marquam Hill Marquam Hill is a populated hill located just south of Downtown Portland, Oregon, United States in the Homestead neighborhood. It is also called Pill Hill because it is home to Oregon Health & Science University, Portland VA Medical Center and Sh ...

in southwest Portland. The hill was part of a

donation land claim The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

he purchased for $2,500 in 1857 from John Donner, brother of

George Donner The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in ...

of the ill-fated

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in th ...

. The hill is now the site of the

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Medi ...

and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In 1862, he was elected Multnomah County judge. He served eight years in the position, having been re-elected to a second four-year term in 1866. In 1882, Marquam was elected as a Republican to the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the ...

from

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thou ...

. Marquam gained a reputation as a transportation advocate and developer. He was instrumental in the formation of the

Oregon Railway and Navigation Company The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a railroad that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, United States, to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. It operated from 1896 as a ...

in 1887. He built the Marquam Grand Opera House in Portland, later renamed the Orpheum Theater. The theater was torn down in the 1970s. It was located in the

downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found. ...

block bounded by Broadway, Alder, 6th and Morrison streets, which block was owned by Marquam. In the south half of the same block he built an eight-story office building, the Marquam Building, completed around 1892, next to his home, a small house at the southeast corner of the block. The office building and house were later torn down and replaced by the Northwestern National Bank Building. Less than two years after arriving in Oregon, Marquam married Emma Kern, on May 8, 1853."P.A. Marquam Dies on Wedding Date; Pioneering Jurist of Portland Passes on 59th Anniversary of Marriage"
(May 9, 1912). ''

'', p. 4. Eleven children were born to the couple, four sons and seven daughters. The youngest child, Thomas Alfred "Tom" Marquam, served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

from 1923 to 1925. Emma Marquam died in 1902. Marquam died at the home of one of his daughters, in southwest Portland, shortly after midnight on May 8, 1912, four days after suffering a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. He is buried in River View Cemetery in Portland. Bearing his name is the

Marquam Bridge The Marquam Bridge is a double-deck, steel-truss cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 5 traffic across the Willamette River from south of downtown Portland, Oregon, on the west side to the industrial area of inner Southeast on the east. ...

in Portland, opened in 1966, Marquam Hill and the adjacent Marquam Gulch and Marquam Nature Park. The community of Marquam, Oregon, is named for his older brother, Alfred.

References

External links

Biography of Judge Marquam in ''History of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon and Washington'', 1889
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marquam, Philip Augustus 1823 births 1912 deaths Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives County judges in Oregon 19th-century American politicians Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon Politicians from Portland, Oregon Burials at River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon) 19th-century American businesspeople