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History · Portland

Portland’s post office opened in 1857, and 5 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Portland was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1880.

1857first post office
5on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Portland began

When was Portland founded?

1857

The Portland post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 19 in 18802020 census: 325169 years
Founding year: the first Portland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Portland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Portland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 823 in 1910; 325 people lived here in 2020.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Portland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Portland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Portland, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 823

Peaked at 823 in 1910; 325 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Portland’s Wikipedia page.

On the National Register

5 historic places in Portland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Dean House
Dean HousePugh HouseNaff HousePortland United Methodist Church
Buildings
Dean HouseBuilding
Pugh HouseBuilding
Naff HouseBuilding
John P. Fisher HouseBuilding
Portland United Methodist ChurchBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Portland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Portland.

Read it all →

Portland was formed in the 1830s along Bayou Bartholomew by two plantation owners. As Portland grew, most of its residents were store owners who received goods from the port, for which the city was named. In the 1890s, the area was reached by a railroad, and Portland was incorporated in 1893. With the railroad allowing easier transport of timber, Portland entered the logging industry, with four large mills running in the early 1900s. Since then, the town's main business has come from agriculture, with many old, established farms located in the surrounding area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Portland, 1857 to 1959

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Portland post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 823
  5. 1916Born hereFred Haas is born here
  6. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1939Born hereJohn A. White is born here
  8. 1959Born hereLloyd Moseby is born here
By decade

Portland, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Pugh House2016Pugh HousePortland United Methodist Church, Plaque2016Portland United Methodist Church, PlaquePortland United Methodist Church, Bell2016Portland United Methodist Church, BellNaff House2016Naff HouseJohn P. Fisher House2016John P. Fisher HouseDean House2016Dean HouseARMap-doton-Portland2005ARMap-doton-Portland
On the map

Portland on the map, 1935 to 2002

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Portland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Portland on the 1935 USGS mapPortland on the 1960 USGS mapPortland on the 2002 USGS map1935Wilmot sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Portland.

Every building

Portland, building by building, 1908–1912

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Portland fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Portland

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Lloyd MosebyAmerican baseball player · b. 1959
Fred HaasProfessional golfer · b. 1916
John A. WhiteChancellor of the University of Arkansas · b. 1939

Questions about Portland’s history

What year was Portland founded?

The Portland post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Portland?

5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Dean House (listed 1982, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.