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DHistory
History · Portland

Portland dates to 1890

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #407 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Portland was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 1950.

1890founded
0on the National Register
0.2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Portland began

When was Portland founded?

1890

Portland dates its founding to 1890 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1950.

First census: 1,202 in 19502020 census: 20,383136 years

How historic is Portland?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1891.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Portland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Portland is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #407 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Portland’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.2% of homes (±0.3) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 37%

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Portland’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1890.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

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.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.On the map since 19254 editions of the USGS map, 1925 to 1975. Watch Portland change.
★ 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
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Portland’s post office has been open since 1891.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Crescent CenterDoyleDoyle Addition ColoniaNueces Bay ColoniaNueces Bayfront Colonia
1cemetery inside Portland
San Patricio Memorial Gardens

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Portland on the map, 1925 to 1975

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 1925 USGS mapPortland on the 1951 USGS mapPortland on the 1969 USGS mapPortland on the 1975 USGS map1925Corpus Christi 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.

The story

How Portland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Portland.

Read it all →

In 1890, John G. Willacy, a well-known rancher, real estate developer, and state legislator from South Texas, laid out the City of Portland. Born in Hallettsville, Texas, in 1859, Willacy promoted agricultural and coastal development projects in the area. He had purchased land from the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company on a high bluff overlooking Nueces Bay, which he believed to be the perfect location for a settlement, given its high-quality land and access to the Bayfront for shipping. Willacy invited investors from Maine and Kansas to join him in forming the Portland Land and Improvement Company, which marketed this new town as a viable coastal port and agricultural site.

ChaptersFounding and Early DevelopmentIncorporation and Early IndustryMid-20th Century Industrial Expansion

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Portland, 1890 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890
    FoundingPortland is established
  3. 1891Post officeThe Portland post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1978Born hereMartin Dossett is born here
By decade

Portland, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Humble beginnings of the Portland Public Library2016Humble beginnings of the Portland Public LibraryDVD and CD storage2016DVD and CD storageOld Library (1933) in2012Old Library (1933) inOld Library (1933) in2012Old Library (1933) inCortaderia selloana glowing tails rkimpeljr2007Cortaderia selloana glowing tails rkimpeljrTXMap-doton-Portland2004TXMap-doton-Portland
People over time

Portland, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,000196019802000202020,383

Grew from 1,202 people in 1950 to 20,383 in 2020, more than tenfold.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Corpus Christi14 historic placesB

Questions about Portland’s history

What year was Portland founded?

In 1890, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Portland’s post office opened in 1891, and the census of 1950 counted 1,202 people here.

How does Portland rank for history?

Portland is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #407 of 642 in Texas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Portland?

0.2% of Portland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1987.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.