This Day in History

December 24, 2008: Voodoo Doughnut’s Portland Creme Declared Official Portland Doughnut

December 24, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

At the last city council meeting presided over by Portland Mayor Tom Potter, a resolution was passed declaring Voodoo Doughnut‘s Portland Creme the official doughnut of the city (The Oregonian, 25 December 2008).

The official Voodoo Doughnut’s menu description:

Portland Cream
Raised yeast doughnut filled with Bavarian cream with chocolate on the top and two eyeballs!

At the city council meeting, Tres Shannon, co-owner of Voodoo Doughnuts, explained: “We wanted to come up with something that represented Portland . . . Take that, Boston.”

Photo credit: “my donut” by Flickr user byebluemonday, used here under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) license.

December 23, 1847: Provisional Government of Oregon Creates Benton County

December 23, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Oregon’s Benton County was created by the Provisional Government of Oregon on December 23, 1847. At the time the county reached from the Willamette River south to the 42nd parallel (which now marks the border between Oregon and California), and west to the ocean. Polk County, from which Benton County was created, formed the northern border. Today Benton County is a much more manageable 679 square miles in the central Willamette Valley.

In 1851 Marysville, renamed Corvallis in 1853, was made the county seat.

Oregon’s Benton County is one of seven counties in the country named for Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who promoted development in the Oregon Country.

December 22, 1854: Multnomah County Created

December 22, 2011 by Dave Knows 1 Comment

Multnomah County, Oregon’s thirteenth, was created from parts of Washington and Clackamas Counties on December 22, 1854.

Multnomah County was created when the people living in Portland found it difficult to travel to Hillsboro to conduct business at the county seat of Washington County. They also thought that they were paying too much in taxes to support the farmers in the rural areas surrounding Portland. In 1854, Portland businessmen petitioned the Territorial Legislature for a new county and Multnomah County was created at the subsequent session. The county was named after the Multnomah Indians who were part of the Chinookan tribe that lived on the eastern tip of what is now Sauvie Island in the Columbia River. The City of Portland was chartered in 1851 and made the county seat in 1854. The Multnomah County Commissioners met for the first time on January 17, 1855.

Multnomah County is Oregon’s smallest and most populous county.

December 21, 1926: Ross Island Bridge Dedicated

December 21, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Portland’s Ross Island Bridge, the only cantilever deck truss bridge in Oregon, opened on December 21, 1926 (Morning Oregonian, 22 December 1926).

Completion of the $2,000,000 Ross Island bridge, latest to span the Willamette river, and one of the most outstanding examples of the cantilever type to be constructed in America, was acknowledged formally yesterday in a fitting dedicatory ceremony.

From the time the vanguard of a parade, which had formed near Portland’s center, appeared over the crest of the bridge, until little Miss Rosina Corbett deftly broke a bottle of Bull Run water against one of the approach pillars, at once christening the bridge and announcing the close of the ceremony, the throng that covered the east approach of the bridge for fully a block attended earnestly the proceeding.

The Ross Island Bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal, who also worked on the Burnside and Sellwood bridges. Over 3,700 feet long, the bridge’s 1,819 foot long truss includes a 535 foot main span and 29 approach spans.

December 20, 1843: Fremont Maps Abert Rim

December 20, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Explorer John Charles Frémont mapped a massive fault scarp in what is now Lake County, Oregon on December 20, 1843. He named the 30 mile long fault Abert Rim, after Colonel John James Abert, his commanding officer. Topped with an 800 foot lava cap and rising 2500 feet above the valley floor and 2000 feet above adjacent Lake Abert (also named after the colonel), it is one of the largest exposed fault scarps in North America, and one of the highest in the world.

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