Portland is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Jay County,

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 ...

, United States. The population was 6,223 at the 2010 census, and in 2018 the estimated population was 6,085.

History

Portland was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted in 1837. It was named after

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

. The Jay County Courthouse,

Portland Commercial Historic District Portland Commercial Historic District is a national historic district located at Portland, Jay County, Indiana. It encompasses 58 contributing buildings, 1 contributing structure, and 1 contributing object in the central business district of Po ...

, and Jonas Votaw House are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Portland has a total area of , of which , or 0.05%, are water. The

Salamonie River The Salamonie River is a tributary of the Wabash River, in eastern Indiana in the United States. The river is long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 19, 2011 It is ...

runs through the city just south of its center. The Salamonie is a west-flowing tributary of the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

Demographics

2010 census

At the 2010 census there were 6,223 people, 2,607 households, and 1,620 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 3,005 housing units at an average density of . The racial makup of the city was 94.5% White, 0.4% African American, 0.5% Asian, 3.1% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.8%. Of the 2,607 households 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.7% were married couples living together, 14.0% single female householder, 5.4% single male householder, and 37.9% were non-families. 32.1% of households were one person and 14.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 39.4 years. 23.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.1% were from 25 to 44; 24.7% were from 45 to 64; and 17.9% were 65 or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.8% male and 53.2% female.

Education

The town has a lending library, the Jay County Public Library.

Notable people

Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry L. Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rememb ...

, actor, founder of

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...

in 1933 *

Stephanie Arnold Stephanie White-Arnold, now Stephanie Amick (born January 23, 1978), is an athlete from the United States who competed in archery. Amick represented the U.S. at the 2004 Summer Olympics.Huang, Thomas (2004)Archery competition, mythic Panathinaik ...

, competed in women's archery in the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Oscar Ray Bolin Oscar Ray Bolin Jr. (January 22, 1962 – January 7, 2016) was an American serial killer and convicted rapist who was executed in Florida for murder. In 1986, Bolin kidnapped and murdered three young women in Tampa, Florida. He was later connect ...

, serial killer * Pete Brewster, professional football player * Pete Daily, musician * Kevin A. Ford, astronaut, piloted NASA space shuttle mission to International Space Station in 2009 * Elwood Haynes (born in Portland, 1857) invented the clutch-driven automobile in 1894 *

Jack Imel Lawrence "Jack" Imel (June 9, 1932 – April 30, 2017) was an American musician, dancer, singer, and television producer who is best known for his work on ''The Lawrence Welk Show''. A tap dancer since the age of four, Imel later took up playin ...

, television producer, ''

Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 t ...

'' *

Richard T. James Richard Thompson James (March 27, 1918 – July 13, 1974) was an American naval engineer, best known for inventing the Slinky spring toy with his wife Betty James in Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania in 1943. Education James was born on March 27, ...

, Indiana lieutenant governor 1945-49 * Kenneth MacDonald, actor, born Kenneth Dollins; he worked for many years at Columbia Pictures in short features and in the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeare ...

movies * Mary Meeker (born in Portland, 1960) investment banker, made Internet economically viable by promoting it to investors in the 1990s, (becoming known as the "Queen of the Internet") * John P. C. Shanks, U.S. Representative from Indiana, Union Army major general *

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. Fr ...

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

-winning choreographer * Bill Wallace (born 1945), martial artist * Greg Williams, WNBA coach, college basketball player at Rice University

References

External links

City of Portland official websiteThe Commercial Review
* {{authority control Cities in Indiana Cities in Jay County, Indiana County seats in Indiana