Portland Public Market

The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1933 at a widely advertised cost of $1 million ($16 million in 2019). Controversial and ambitious, it was never as successful as the Carroll Public Market, centered at southwest Fifth and Yamhill Streets, which it was intended to replace.[1]

The original Portland Public Market building, with an eleven-story entryway tower in 1936. This view is looking east on Yamhill St. at Front St.

The siting of the market was rooted in heavy corruption and graft; Mayor George Luis Baker and city commissioner John Mann, among others, were clearly heavily involved. A recall effort was organized: it went to the ballot, though signatures for the recall petition were mysteriously stolen during a break-in, and the house of one of the two leaders of the recall was bombed Baker was acquitted on the market corruption charges days before the recall vote, which narrowly failed to remove him from office.[2]

Three stories tall with eleven-story towers, three blocks long, and with features including a gas station, rooftop parking, and a 500-seat auditorium, it was primarily a novelty, and struggled to retain tenants until finally closing in 1942.[3] The architect was William G. Holford.

The building was leased to the U.S. Navy in 1943, then sold to The Oregon Journal in July 1946,[4] for use as the newspaper's operations plant starting in 1948.[1] After publishing from there for 13 years, the paper moved out in 1961, and the building stood unused until it was bought in 1968 by the City of Portland,[4] which demolished it the next year to make way for an expansion of Harbor Drive, which itself was largely replaced in 1974 by Tom McCall Waterfront Park.[5]

There is currently no permanent public market in the city, although plans are in progress to build the James Beard Public Market.[6]