1853—W. S. Ladd, 103 Front street, between Stark and Washington; D. C. Coleman, southeast corner Front and Oak (cost $9,500), Lucien Snow, Front street, between Pine and Oak; F. B. Miles & Co., southwest corner Front and Pine (cost $13,500).
1854—Blumauer Bros., Front street, between Washington and Alder (afterwards owned by Cohen & Lyon), J. Kohn & Co., Front street, between Stark and Washington, next south of Ladd's; Geo. L. Story, Front street, between Stark and Washington, next north of Ladd's; P. Raleigh, southwest corner Front and Stark (2 stories); J. A. Failing & Co., southeast corner First and Oak, small brick warehouse.
1855—L. Snow & Co., 1-story brick, next north of the store built in 1853.
1856—Sellers & Friendly, 89 Front street, between Oak and Stark.
1857—Holman & Harker, Front street, between Morrison and Yamhill; Baum & Bros., 87 Front, between Oak and Stark; Benjamin Stark (3 stories), 91, Front, between Oak and Stark; Hallock & McMillan (2 stories), northwest corner Front and Oak; M. Weinshank, two stores, each one story. Front street, between Ash and Pine.
1858—H. W. Corbett (2 stories), northwest corner Front and Oak; Benj. Stark (3 stories), 93 Front street, between Oak and Stark; Allen & Lewis (2 stories), northeast corner Front and B; E. J. Northrup, northwest corner Front and Yamhill; A. D. Fitch & Co., next door north of Northrup; Seymour & Joynt (2 stories). Front, between Washington and Alder; A. R. Shipley & Co. (2 stories), Front, next south of S. & J.; A. D. Shelby (2 stories), 105 First, between Washington and Alder.
1859—Failings & Hatt (2 stories), 83 Front street, between Oak and Stark; Geo. H. Flanders (2 stories); Old Masonic hall, southeast corner Front and B.; A. D. Shelby (2 stories), 103 First, between Washington and Alder, north of his store built in 1858.
1860—Harker Bros. (2 stories), next south of Holman & Harker, built in 1857; Pat. Raleigh (3 stories), southeast corner First and Stark; H. Wasserman (2 stories). Front, between Washington and Alder; Weil Bros. (2 stories), Front, next south of Wasserman's; A. D. Shelby (2 stories), southwest corner First and Washington.
In point of residences the prosperous merchants quite early exhibited their pride and good taste in fairly good buildings. H. W. Corbett built his home on the block immediately south of the postoffice in 1854. That building was moved away in 1878 to make room for the present elegant home of Mrs. Corbett.
The first home of Capt. John H. Couch, where he lived all his life, in Portland, a photo of which is given on another page, was erected before the Corbett home, and stood on the west side of Couch lake, and Captain Couch could sit on his front porch and shoot a duck in the lake any day for dinner. Couch lake was a real lake covering about forty city blocks, commencing at Flanders street between Second and Fourth streets and running north as far as Thurman street. The present Union Railroad Depot stands in the old lake on a battery of piling outlining the whole of the brick structure; the whole of the lake having now been filled up to the established street grade by pumping sand out of the river opposite.
The steam saw-mill, the first in Portland, which Reed & Abrams had labored so hard to establish, was destroyed by fire in 1853, and its loss was a veritable calamity to the little city. And thinking the town had got its growth, some enterprising citizen took a census of the business houses in 1855, and found in operation four churches, one academy, one public school, two steam saw-mills, four printing offices, two express offices, four physicians, six lawyers, two dentists, five furniture shops, three bakeries, four stove and tin stores, two merchant tailors, two jewelry stores, four blacksmith shops, one foundry and machine shop, three wagon makers, six painters, two boat builders, five livery stables, twelve hotels and boarding houses, three meat shops, six whiskey saloons, two billiard
