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 parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Jay County,
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, United States.
The population was 6,320 at the
2020 census,
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 Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
ted in 1837. It was named after
Portland, Maine
Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...
.
The
Jay County Courthouse,
Portland Commercial Historic District, and
Jonas Votaw House are 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 ...
.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Portland has a total area of , of which , or 0.05%, are water.
The
Salamonie River runs through the city just south of its center. The Salamonie is a west-flowing tributary of the
Wabash River
The Wabash River () 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, and a significant part of Illinois, in the United ...
.
Climate
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, 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 m ...
in 1933
*
Stephanie Arnold, competed in women's archery in the
2004 Olympics
*
Oscar Ray Bolin, 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, television producer, ''
Lawrence Welk Show''
*
Richard T. James, 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 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,
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
and
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
-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