Railway Palaces of Portland, Oregon: The Architectural Legacy of Henry Villard

Download or read book Railway Palaces of Portland, Oregon: The Architectural Legacy of Henry Villard written by Alexander Benjamin Craghead and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2016 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1883, railroad financier Henry Villard brought Portland and the Pacific Northwest their first transcontinental railroad. Earning a reputation for boldness on Wall Street, the war correspondent turned entrepreneur set out to establish Portland as a bourgeoning metropolis. To realize his vision, he hired architects McKim, Mead & White to design a massive passenger station and a first-class hotel. Despite financial panics, lost fortunes and stalled construction, the Portland Hotel opened in 1890 and remained the social heart of the city for sixty years. While the original station was never built, Villard returned as a pivotal benefactor of Union Station, saving its iconic clock tower in the process. Author Alexander Benjamin Craghead tells the story of this Gilded Age patron and the architecture that helped shape the city's identity.