Montgomery Ward & Company, Portland, Oregon - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

There is a plaque in front of the Montgomery Ward & Company building that reads as follows: "Fourteen years had passed since the 1906 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition drew throngs to the newly erected fairgrounds at this site. Not many landmarks remained. The massive World Foresty Center (the world's larges log cabin) still stood nearby, as did the old Portland Beaver's baseball park, commonly known as "Vaughn Street."

It was December of 1919, the First World War over for barely a year, when George R. Thorne, president of Montgomery Ward & Company announced the construction of an enormous warehouse here. The nation's oldest and largest mail-order retail company sought to expand its operations in the western states, and to open new markets in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pacific Rim. By September, of 1920 the Montgomery Ward warehous was completed, the largest commercial building in Portland, even without the north wing that was added in 1936.

A center of this neighborhood's commerce for over sixty years (from the Woodrow Wilson to the Ronald Reagan administrations), Montgomery Ward & Company closed down the massive but outdated warehouse in 1982. The building was purchased by Bill and Sam Naito in 1985, renovated by SERA architects, and reopened in 1987 as Montgomery Park. As a trade show and office facility, the building has continued to serve as a center of commercial life in Northwest Portland. The Vaugh Street ballpark was torn down in 1956. The World Forestry Center was lost in a 1964 fire. But the Montgomery Ward & Company building, now on the National Register of Historic Places, remains a vital landmark in the ongoing history of the neighborhood and the city."

......................

Additional information:

The building was occupied by Montgomery Ward from 1920 until 1985. It was built with 569,000 square feet, with 9 floors plus a basement. The first floor was used mostly for loading and unloading freight that arrived by truck or railcar on the 3 railspurs at the location, floors 2 & 3 were office space and the remaining floors (4 to 9) were mostly warehouse. In 1935-36, an additional 229,000 square foot wing was added, making the former L-shaped building U-shaped. Many Oregonians will remember the huge, steel-framed sign that stood solidly on the roof of the building, reading MONTGOMERY WARD. When the building was purchased in 1984 and renovated into office/trade show space by brothers Bill and Sam Naito, the thrifty duo only had to change two of the letters on the huge sign, to convert it to MONTGOMERY PARK, which is what the building is called now.

Street address: 2741 NW Vaughn Street Portland, Oregon USA 97210 County / Borough / Parish: Multnomah Year listed: 1985 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924 Historic function: Warehouse & Department Store Current function: Trade shows/Commerce, office, Department Store Privately owned?: yes Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2012 To: 12/31/2012 Hours of operation: From: 9:00 AM To: 5:00 AM Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   02/05/2022 Chalupa_Dad visited it 09/07/2021 Mrs&Mrs pdx wrote comment for it 09/07/2021 Mrs&Mrs pdx visited it 09/10/2016 jewilk1 visited it 09/20/2014 mspgenealogy visited it 08/05/2014 BlueMoth visited it 09/22/2012 Queens Blessing visited it 09/16/2012 ornith visited it

View all visits/logs