Discover Portland’s Historic Furniture Manufacturing Legacy

Do you know that Portland was as soon as a serious furniture-making heart of the Pacific Northwest?

Immediately, Portland is related to unbiased makers, craft industries, design, and small-scale manufacturing. However a century in the past, town had a really completely different industrial identification. Portland was residence to giant furnishings factories using a whole bunch of employees, manufacturing furnishings for patrons all through the Pacific Northwest, California, and different western markets.

By the early twentieth century, Portland’s furnishings trade had change into substantial sufficient that town was being referred to as the “Grand Rapids of the Pacific Coast,” a reference to Grand Rapids, Michigan, then America’s most well-known furniture-manufacturing heart.

This was not a nickname invented by fashionable historians. It appeared in Portland newspapers in the course of the trade’s personal interval of growth.

And the numbers have been spectacular.

Based on the Sunday Oregonian article “Furnishings Makers to Meet Commerce at Feast,” revealed August 2, 1914, Portland had between $3 million and $4 million invested in furnishings crops, whereas the furnishings trade and its allied industries employed roughly 3,000 folks. The newspaper additionally estimated that Portland’s furnishings payroll exceeded $3 million a 12 months. 

Portland’s furnishings story, nonetheless, started a lot earlier.

From Pioneer Cabinetmakers to Furnishings Factories

Furnishings manufacturing was certainly one of Portland’s early industries.

Based on the article, furnishings makers have been already lively within the Portland space within the 1850s. The newspaper famous that Richmond & Cleaver have been manufacturing chairs and tables at Milwaukie as early as 1850, whereas John B. Garrison was one other pioneer of the trade at Oregon Metropolis.

Portland itself started growing furnishings manufacturing in the course of the 1860s.

The identical article reviews that Emil Loenstein & Co. opened a small furniture-making plant in Portland in the course of the early or late 1860s. The precise date was apparently already unsure to the newspaper’s editors. The manufacturing facility burned in 1872, after which Loenstein mixed his enterprise with H. Krebs & Schindler, one other pioneer furnishings agency.

The brand new firm grew to become the Oregon Furnishings Firm (c. 1872–1911).

It bought the positioning of the previous Vaughn flour mills at Entrance and Madison Streets and established a brand new manufacturing facility there. A number of years later, Loenstein bought Shindler’s curiosity, whereas Shindler established a separate plant in Willamette, then generally known as Willsburg. 

The Oregon Furnishings Firm remained in enterprise for many years. Based on the identical 1914 newspaper historical past, it was ultimately bought by the Carman Manufacturing Firm, which additionally operated crops in Tacoma and Spokane. 

This early historical past is price remembering when analyzing an vintage Portland-made piece. There have been a number of corporations with related names, together with the Oregon Furnishings Firm and Oregon Furnishings Manufacturing Firm, and their histories shouldn’t robotically be mixed.

Doernbecher Arrives in Portland

The corporate that maybe greatest demonstrates the transformation from small furnishings store to fashionable manufacturing facility was Doernbecher Manufacturing Firm (1900–a minimum of 1955).

Frank S. Doernbecher started within the furnishings enterprise in Tacoma in 1890 with simply three workers. Based on the Morning Oregonian article “The Doernbecher Manufacturing Co.”, revealed January 1, 1914, the unique manufacturing facility occupied solely about 2,680 sq. ft and initially produced cheap fir bed room furnishings for the native Tacoma market. 

The corporate moved to Chehalis in 1892, expanded its product line to incorporate dining-room furnishings, and commenced utilizing woods equivalent to ash and maple.

Then, in 1900, the complete operation moved to Portland.

The transfer reworked the corporate.

Based on the 1914 Morning Oregonian, inside fourteen years of arriving in Portland, Doernbecher had grown into the fourth-largest plant of its sort in the USA. The manufacturing facility lined six acres, had greater than 200,000 sq. ft of flooring house, and stood on in depth railroad trackage that allowed the corporate to develop. 

That’s a rare statistic—and one which places Portland’s furnishings trade right into a a lot bigger nationwide context.

Doernbecher was not merely assembling furnishings from imported elements. The corporate’s operation reached deep into the regional timber economic system.

The January 1, 1914, Morning Oregonian account describes a company-owned noticed and veneer mill close to Oregon Metropolis. The corporate held timber limits, employed crews to acquire logs, and maintained greater than 4 million ft of lumber at its mill. Fir, cottonwood, maple, and ash have been processed to be used within the Portland manufacturing facility. O

The newspaper described the manufacturing course of in remarkably fashionable industrial phrases: timber was minimize, hauled to the river, taken to the mill, transported by rail to Portland, dried, machined, assembled, completed, packed, after which shipped to prospects or firm warehouses.

By 1914, the Portland manufacturing facility employed roughly 225 to 250 males and was producing shut to a few 40-foot carloads of furnishings a day, in line with the newspaper. The corporate additionally maintained warehouses in San Francisco and Los Angeles

In different phrases, Doernbecher gives maybe the clearest instance of the whole industrial chain behind Portland-made furnishings.

Portland Turns into the “Grand Rapids of the Pacific Coast”

Doernbecher was not alone.

By 1914, Portland had sufficient furnishings producers and distributors to draw sellers from all through the Northwest. The August 2, 1914, Sunday Oregonian article “Furnishings Makers to Meet Commerce at Feast” described Portland because the “premier furniture-manufacturing and distributing heart of the Pacific Northwest.” 

The article defined that Portland furnishings was being offered not solely all through the Pacific Northwest but in addition in California and different western and Midwestern states.

A separate Morning Oregonian article revealed October 9, 1916, went even additional, declaring that Portland was already essential sufficient as a furnishings heart to have been “fitly referred to as” the “Grand Rapids of the Pacific Coast.” 

The comparability was vital.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, had change into well-known for furnishings manufacturing on a nationwide scale. Portland was not claiming to be equivalent to Grand Rapids, however the nickname mirrored town’s ambition and its rising significance as a western manufacturing heart.

Portland had one thing Grand Rapids additionally possessed: entry to considerable timber, expert employees, factories, transportation networks, and increasing markets.

However Portland had its personal geographic benefit—the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Powers Furnishings

One other essential Portland identify was Ira F. Powers Furnishings Firm (1866–a minimum of 1941).

Powers grew to become one of many metropolis’s longstanding furnishings enterprises. The corporate’s significance continues to be seen within the surviving Powers Furnishings Warehouse and Manufacturing unit, constructed in 1925 at what’s now 123 NE third Avenue.

Based on the Oregon Historic Websites Database, the constructing is among the final main remnants of Portland’s once-prominent furnishings trade. The historic report identifies it as a warehouse and manufacturing facility constructed for the Powers Furnishings Firm and describes Powers as one of many oldest and bigger enduring enterprises in Portland’s furnishings trade. 

The identical historic report makes the Grand Rapids comparability express, noting that Portland thought-about itself the “Grand Rapids of the Pacific.” The 1925 Powers constructing subsequently isn’t merely an previous business construction. It’s a surviving piece of proof for the dimensions of Portland’s furnishings trade.

Healy Brothers: From Wholesale to Manufacturing

The story of Healy Brothers (1909–1926) illustrates one other essential growth: the transition from distributing furnishings to manufacturing it.

William A. and Frank S. Healy established Healy Brothers in 1909. Initially, the corporate dealt with furnishings jobbing traces all through the Northwest.

Based on the Nationwide Register documentation for Portland’s thirteenth Avenue Historic District, entry to the railroad was essential to the enterprise, and the corporate occupied a number of places alongside thirteenth Avenue. In 1926, the Healys fashioned the Portland Furnishings Manufacturing Firm and commenced manufacturing upholstered furnishings themselves.

The enterprise grew quickly. By 1927, the corporate had constructed a plant extending from Corbett Avenue to Macadam Avenue and masking roughly 1.6 acres. Then got here consolidation.

In 1930, Portland Furnishings Manufacturing Firm merged with Doernbecher Furnishings Firm. William Healy grew to become vp accountable for gross sales. This was half of a bigger change going down within the Pacific Coast furnishings trade. Somewhat than merely disappearing, Portland’s furnishings corporations have been more and more changing into a part of bigger regional manufacturing and distribution organizations.

Extra Than Family Furnishings

Portland’s furnishings trade was additionally extra various than an inventory of bed room and dining-room producers may counsel.

Furnishings companies produced and distributed specialised merchandise, together with chairs, faculty furnishings, mattresses, upholstered furnishings, cupboards, and associated items.

A 1906 Morning Oregonian listing of Portland producers, for instance, lists Doernbecher Furnishings Manufacturing Firm, Oregon Furnishings Manufacturing Firm, and Powers Furnishings Manufacturing Firm underneath bed room suites. 

Portland additionally had corporations specializing in institutional furnishings and chairs.

This issues as a result of an previous Portland-made piece doesn’t essentially appear like what we’d consider as a conventional vintage “furnishings set.” A college desk, chair, cupboard, institutional desk, or different specialised object may additionally be a part of this manufacturing historical past.

Producer, Wholesaler, or Retailer?

There’s one other essential distinction for anybody making an attempt to determine an previous Portland piece of furnishings.

An organization identify on a bit doesn’t essentially imply that firm manufactured it.

Portland had main furnishings retailers and wholesalers in addition to producers. Gevurtz Furnishings Firm, for instance, grew to become one of many metropolis’s best-known furnishings companies after Isaac Gevurtz established his operation in Portland within the nineteenth century.

The corporate’s significance to Portland’s furnishings commerce is effectively documented. However a Gevurtz label doesn’t robotically inform us which manufacturing facility made a selected piece.

That distinction is crucial when researching antiques.

A retailer’s label can inform us the place an merchandise was offered. A producer’s stamp might inform us the place it was made. A wholesaler’s mark can inform us one thing else once more.

For anybody making an attempt to determine Portland furnishings, the precise wording of a label or stamp can subsequently be extraordinarily essential.

Why Portland Was Nicely Suited to Furnishings Manufacturing

The fundamental economics of Portland’s furnishings trade have been easy.

The area supplied considerable timber, whereas Portland supplied transportation, factories, labor, and entry to markets.

The Doernbecher story makes that connection significantly clear. The corporate’s personal operations prolonged from timber limits and logging to sawmills, veneer manufacturing, railroad cargo, furnishings manufacturing, warehouses, and distribution. Portland’s furnishings makers have been subsequently not merely benefiting from low cost native wooden. They have been constructing an built-in manufacturing and distribution system across the assets of the Pacific Northwest.

And the market was a lot bigger than Portland itself.

The 1914 Sunday Oregonian reported that Portland-made furnishings was discovering consumers all through the Pacific Northwest, California, and different western markets. Doernbecher, in the meantime, had warehouses in San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

The trade’s scale continued into the post-World Conflict I interval.

Based on the Nationwide Register documentation for the thirteenth Avenue Historic District, Portland and the speedy neighborhood produced roughly $3 million price of furnishings in 1919. The identical supply describes Portland as an essential heart of furnishings manufacturing on the Pacific Coast after World Conflict I. 

A 1920 commerce publication gives one other indication of the trade’s scale. Editor & Writer, in its August 21, 1920, Portland profile, reported that Portland had the third-largest case-goods furnishings manufacturing facility on the planet and estimated that Portland factories offered roughly $5.4 million price of furnishings throughout 1919. The distinction between the $3 million determine and the $5.4 million determine probably displays variations in what was being measured and the sources used, so the figures shouldn’t be handled as contradictory measurements of precisely the identical factor. However each level to the identical conclusion: Portland’s furnishings trade was substantial.

From Unbiased Factories to Regional Consolidation

By the late Twenties and early Nineteen Thirties, the story grew to become more and more certainly one of consolidation.

The 1930 commerce publication The Upholsterer and Inside Decorator reported the creation of a brand new Pacific Coast furnishings group that introduced collectively various manufacturing corporations. The group included Doernbecher Manufacturing Firm and Portland Furnishings Manufacturing Firm, together with furnishings considerations from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Spokane, and different western cities. The importance of this growth is essential.

Portland’s furnishings trade didn’t merely rise after which vanish in a single day. As an alternative, it grew to become half of a bigger Pacific Coast manufacturing and distribution community, whereas particular person corporations merged and reorganized.

The Healy and Doernbecher connection is one instance. The broader 1930 Pacific Coast consolidation is one other.

The trade was altering with the occasions.

The Furnishings That Survived

Immediately, a lot of the bodily proof of this trade has disappeared.

Factories have been demolished, reworked, or transformed to different makes use of. Firms modified names, merged, or disappeared.

However the furnishings itself survives.

A dresser, eating desk, chair, desk, cupboard, or different piece should still carry the identify of a Portland producer that was as soon as using a whole bunch of individuals.

A number of the names price expecting embody:

Oregon Furnishings Firm, c.1872–c.Eighteen Nineties

Oregon Furnishings Manufacturing Firm, 1867–1912

Powers Furnishings Manufacturing Firm, 1878–c.Nineteen Fifties

Columbia Chair Firm, c.1900–c.1910+

Doernbecher Manufacturing Firm, 1900–1955

Northwest Faculty Furnishings Firm, c.1915–Nineteen Thirties?

Portland Furnishings Manufacturing Firm, 1926–1930

However identification requires care.

A producer’s identify might point out the place a bit was made. A retailer’s label might point out the place it was offered. A wholesaler’s identify might point out the way it reached the market. And firms generally modified company names or merged with different corporations.

The development of the furnishings can even present clues: the wooden, joinery, {hardware}, end, model, and manufacturing methods might help set up whether or not a bit suits a selected firm’s recognized manufacturing.

A Forgotten Chapter of Portland Historical past

Portland’s furnishings trade deserves to be remembered as greater than a footnote to town’s industrial historical past.

By 1914, modern newspapers have been describing Portland as a serious furniture-manufacturing and distribution heart, with thousands and thousands of {dollars} invested and roughly 3,000 folks employed within the trade and associated companies. Doernbecher had grown from a tiny Tacoma store right into a Portland manufacturing facility described in 1914 because the fourth-largest plant of its sort in the USA. Powers had change into certainly one of Portland’s oldest and bigger furnishings enterprises, abandoning a surviving 1925 manufacturing facility and warehouse. 

The subsequent time you encounter an previous piece of furnishings bearing a Portland identify, it could subsequently characterize rather more than an vintage.

It might be a surviving piece of a forgotten industrial panorama—a time when Portland’s forests fed its factories, railroads carried its furnishings westward, and “Made in Portland” meant furnishings made for properties, faculties, companies, and households all through the American West.

Additions, corrections and images of Portland furnishings welcome!