Kenton

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Welcoming visitors to Portland, Paul Bunyan has stood guard over the Historic Kenton District since Oregon’s Centennial Celebration in 1959.

The town of Kenton, Oregon was platted by George F. Heusner in 1905. He envisioned an industrial community on the North end of Portland. Originally, he wanted to name the town Kenwood, but another addition to the city was already using the name, so he settled on Kenton.

Kenton’s Rail Yards helped to make the town an industrial area. It became even more famous as Cowtown when Swift Packing Company set up shop opposite Hayden Island on the Columbia Slough in 1909. Swift employed over 600 workers and they butchered more beef in Kenton than in any other town in the Northwest.

The Portland Glazed Cement Pipe Company set up shop on Columbia Boulevard to the west of the Kenton Traction Company Trestle. In the rear, you can see Davis Safe and Lock Company.

Davis Safe & Lock Company set up a manufacturing division by Kenton Yards in the industrial area north of Kenton.

Nicolai Sash and Door Company was located west of Davis Lock & Safe.


	The Bank of Kenton was established for the cattlemen at Denver Avenue and Kilpatrick Street.



	1930s view of Kilpatrick Street and the Bank of Kenton.


	Cattlemen coming to Kenton from out of town could stay in first class accomodations at the Hotel Kenton. In this view, new rails are being laid for the Kenton Traction Company streetcar on Denver Avenue.

The Kenton Traction Company was owned by Swift Packing Company and it was used almost exclusively to carry workers to and from the meat packing plant. The cars ran all day, the fare was a nickel and no transfers. The Kenton cars would connect with the city cars on the Mississippi Line.

Once a year, the city cars would use the Kenton Traction Lines to carry thousands of visitors to and from the Pacific International Livestock Exposition (PI).

The North Portland Streetcar stopped at the Red Steer Cafe at the Union Stock Yards, near the Pacific International Livestock Pavillion (now The Expo Center).


	The Livestock Exchange which was at the Union Stock Yards.


	Early view of Portland’s Union Stock Yards.


	View of the Union Stock Yards looking north. The Union Meat Company also had a meat packing plant in Troutdale.


		The Columbia Service Garage and Gas Station on Columbia Boulevard.

The Kenton Traction Company went out of business during the Great Depression in the 1930s and the tracks were removed.

The Pacific Livestock Expo held its last show in Portland in the 1980s and the buildings were sold to Multnomah County where the Multnomah County Fair remained for about 20 years.

The Meat Packing Plant began declining in the 1950s and 60s. Then about 10 or 15 years ago an Industrial Park was built in its place.

Rich in history, the Kenton Historic District was absorbed into Portland many years ago and it retains a unique character all its own.

Kenton’s 31-foot-tall statue of Paul Bunyan was recently added to the National Register of Historical Places as Oregon’s only roadside architecture in the register. The statue was commissioned by the Kenton Businessman’s Club to greet the millions of visitors to the Centennial Exposition in 1959 at the present-day site of The Expo Center when Interstate Avenue was the main gateway to Portland. Victor R. Nelson and his son Victor A. Nelson designed and crafted Paul Bunyan in their nearby Kenton Machine Works at a cost of $25,000.




		Last updated 06-20-10


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