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

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 ...

, United States. Founded in 1891 in a split from

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

, 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 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 Thomas Van Scoy (February 13, 1848 – February 11, 1901) was an American minister and educator in Indiana, Oregon, and Montana. A Methodist, he served as the sixth president of Willamette University and as president of the now defunct Portl ...

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 b ...

, 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 in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Decline

Following the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

, 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 East Portland was a city in the U.S. state of Oregon that was consolidated into Portland in 1891. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the portion of present-day Portland that lies east of 82nd Avenue, most of which the City of 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 University of Portland.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 Waldschmidt Hall (originally West Hall) is an academic building at the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon, United States. Constructed in 1891 as West Hall, the building was originally part of the now defunct Portland University located ...

. The building was added to 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 ...

in 1977.

Notable alumni

* John P. Rusk

History

Decline

Legacy

Notable alumni

References

Further reading