Portland's first major business was logging. It also had several taverns and hotels. Records show that the Hibblertown Hotel, which is the present-day Ackerson house on State Street, the Dill's Tavern, which was later torn down, and the What Cheer Inn, which is present-day Duckloe Showroom at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Main Street, all prospered because of loggers.
Passages that mention Portland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh under supervision and revision of William J. Heller, assisted by an advisory board of editors..1920 · page 468Read the page →
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The boroughs of Portland and East Bangor have been established within the boundaries of the township. Slateford. in the northeastern part of the township at the mouth of Slateford creek, which falls into the Delaware just south of the village, is a small collection of houses, and has been a post-office since 1856. The houses were built by James M. Porter about 1805, who owned and operated slate quarries at that place, and to the slate industry the village owes all its energy and importance.
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History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh under supervision and revision of William J. Heller, assisted by an advisory board of editors..1920 · page 522Read the page →
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Portland Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1872, and dedicated July 12, 1874. The Rev. H. T. Zeider was pastor in 191 5. The church in 1919 is in charge of the Rev. David W. Siegrist. Mount Bethel Baptist Church of Portland was formally organized June 10, 1875. On the organization of this church the congregation then worshipping at Johnsonville was dissolved. A church edifice was built in 1878 at the cost of $2,250, the pastor at that time being Rev. A. E. Spring. The Rev. J. Albert Crawn, the present pastor, has had charge of the congregation for a number of years. The First
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Portland, 1813 to 1923
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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