Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 1.djvu/341

Rh a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars. A public school house was erected on Harrison street, at a cost of seven thousand dollars. The old Central public school on Sixth street, where the Hotel Portland is now, was, until this time, the only building to accommodate the thousand or more children of school age. There were, however, other educational institutions in the city, as St. Mary's Academy on Fourth street, between Mill and Market, with an attendance of one hundred and fifty pupils; St. Joseph's day school, at the corner of Third and Oak streets, with one hundred pupils; Portland Academy and Female Seminary, on Seventh street, between Jefferson and Columbia, having one hundred and fifty pupils; the Beth Israel school, at the corner of Sixth and Oak streets, with sixty-five pupils; a private school by Miss M. A. Hodgson, a lady of culture from Massachusetts, and now long known as an educator in our state, and a commercial academy in the Parrish building on Front street. For a further and fully connected account of schools from the first, the reader is referred to the special chapter on schools.

Of brick buildings made in 1865, Cahn & Co.'s, at 37 Front street, extending to First; Willberg's two-story building on Front street; Moffett's on Front, and that of Wakefield, Glenn and others on Front, were the most prominent and represented a considerable outlay of money. Cree's building at the corner of Stark and Front, built in 1862, may be mentioned. A broom factory, a match factory, the Willamette Iron Works and the First National Bank were established this year. To these may be added Vaughn's flour mill on Front and Main streets, then an expensive and imposing building, costing about fifty thousand dollars. About thirty-five thousand dollars was spent on street improvements in 1865.

The total value of exports was seven million six hundred and six thousand five hundred and twenty-four dollars, the most of it being gold dust. To form commercial communication with San Francisco, there were two lines of ocean steamers, one running the Sierra Nevada and the Oregon, and the other the Orizaba and the Pacific. Of these, the Orizaba was the largest, registering fourteen hundred tons. To Victoria the Active was run under the command of Captain Thorn. There were sailing vessels also to San Francisco, some of which, were later run to the Sandwich Islands. These were the bark Jane A. Falkenberg, of six hundred tons; the bark Almatia, of seven hundred tons; the bark W. B. Scranton, of seven hundred tons; the bark Samuel Merrit, of five hundred and fifty tons; the bark Live Yankee, of seven hundred tons. To the Sandwich Islands, also, there were then running the barks A. A. Aldridge, of four hundred tons, and the Comet, seven hundred tons.

Of the steamboat lines on the river, there were now in operation the following three: The Oregon Steam Navigation Company, running to Astoria; the J. H. Couch, with fare at $6.00 and the freight at $6.00 per ton; to Monticello; the Cowlitz or the Rescue, fare $3.00 and freight $4.00; to The Dalles, the New World, Wilson G. Hunt, the Cascade, Julia, Oneonta, Idaho and Iris, with fare at $6.00 and freight at $15.00; above The Dalles, the steamers Owyhee, Spray, Okanagon, Webfoot, Yakima, Tenino, and Nez Perces Chief, with fare to Lewiston at $22.00 and freight at $60.00 per ton. These were the palmy days of river travel, the steamers being crowded and a small fortune being made at every trip. The People's Transportation Company confined itself to the Willamette and ran the Senator and Rival below Oregon City, and the Fanny Patton and others above the falls. The independent steamer Fanny Troup ran to Vancouver, and on the Willamette above Canemah there were the Union and the Echo. The Willamette Steam Navigation Company, still another line, ran the Alert and the Active on the Willamette. These Willamette craft, having no competition from railroads, also did a fair business.

The population of Portland in 1865 was six thousand and sixty-eight. The occupations represented are illustrated by the following list: Of apothecaries, four; architects and civil engineers, four; assayers, three; auctioneers, three;