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45-460: Multnomah County / m ʌ l t ˈ n oʊ m ə / is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon . As of the 2020 census , the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland – Vancouver – Hillsboro , OR–WA metropolitan statistical area . The state's smallest and most populous county , its county seat , Portland, is the state's largest city. The area of

90-514: A sales tax , it attracts shoppers from southwest Washington . The Port of Portland , established in 1891 and combined with the City of Portland's Commission of Public Docks in 1971, ranks third in total waterborne commerce on the West Coast, and 31st in the nation for total tonnage according to the 2009 American Association of Port Authorities ' Port Industries Statistics . Portland is one of

135-471: A $ 100,000 donation from Andrew Carnegie in 1901, expressing "great pride" in Portland's ability to take care of itself; later, it did accept $ 105,000 in 1911 and $ 60,000 in 1912 to build branch locations. The library received nearly 9,000 books in 1900 from the estate of John Wilson ; many of these were rare books. However, the bequest called for the books to be available free of charge to the public, thus

180-415: A household in the county was $ 41,278, and for a family was $ 51,118. Males had a median income of $ 36,036 versus $ 29,337 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 22,606. 12.70% of the population and 8.20% of families were below the poverty line . Out of the total population, 15.40% of those under the age of 18 and 9.80% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. Multnomah County

225-498: A new separate library, the Portland Public Library , was founded by a group that included some former LAP board members. The two libraries merged in 1902. The library moved to a new two-story stone library building in 1893. The building cost $ 156,477, representing 27 years of fundraising, mostly by Deady. A large portion of the funds came from Ella M. Smith, daughter of Benjamin F. Smith, in 1889. The library

270-535: A three-year local income tax (Measure 26–48) on May 20, 2003, to prevent further cuts in schools, police protection, and social services. Multnomah County was one of the few local governments in Oregon to approve such a tax increase. On March 2, 2004, Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn announced the county would begin granting licenses for same-sex marriages , pursuant to a legal opinion issued by its attorney deeming such marriages lawful under Oregon law. Her announcement

315-636: Is 41 . The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county. Multnomah County Library After Leland H. Wakefield began collecting funds door-to-door in 1863, the Mercantile Library Association was started on January 12, 1864, with subscriptions by Portland's merchant elite. Judge Matthew Deady

360-500: Is also home to the Historic Columbia River Highway , Multnomah Falls , and Oxbow Regional Park . School districts include: Portland Community College serves western portions of the county and Mt. Hood Community College serves eastern portions. 45°32′N 122°25′W  /  45.54°N 122.41°W  / 45.54; -122.41 Oregon counties There are 36 counties in

405-702: Is located along the south side of the Columbia River . The county includes a number of extinct volcanoes in the Boring Lava Field . The Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge forms the eastern portion of the county's northern border. As of the 2020 census , there were 815,428 people, 341,507 households, and 180,512 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,891.2 people per square mile (730.2 people/km). There were 363,996 housing units. The racial makeup of

450-402: Is located in downtown Portland . The Multnomah County Central Courthouse opened in 2020, replacing a century-old building nearby that was in need of seismic retrofitting . Map of Multnomah County Senate-Representative District Maps The principal industries of Multnomah County are manufacturing , transportation , wholesale and retail trade, and tourism . Since Oregon does not have

495-455: The 2000 census , there were 660,486 people, 272,098 households, and 152,102 families in the county. The population density was 1,518/sq mi (586/km). There were 288,561 housing units had an average density of 663.sq mi (256/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 79.16% White, 5.70% Asian, 5.67% Black or African American, 1.03% Native American, 0.35% Pacific Islander, 4.03% from other races, and 4.07% from two or more races. About 7.51% of

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540-535: The Central Library in downtown Portland and 18 branches. The Central Library in downtown Portland serves as the main branch of the system. The building was designed by architect A. E. Doyle , and opened on September 6, 1913. It was one of the first libraries in the United States to feature an open-plan. The three-story Central Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as

585-591: The Chinookan word for the "lower river", multnomah , matlnomaq , or máɬnumax̣ being interpretive English spellings of the same word. In Chinook jargon, Ne-matlnomaq , means the "place of matlnomaq" or the (singular) Ne-matlnomag , "the lower river", from the Oregon City Falls toward the Columbia River. Alternatively, Chinookan máɬnumax̣ (also nímaɬnumax̣ ) "those toward water" (or "toward

630-474: The U.S. State of Oregon . The Oregon Constitution does not explicitly provide for county seats ; Article VI, covering the "Administrative Department" of the state of Oregon , simply states that: More details on the etymologies of Oregon county names and place names in general are documented in Oregon Geographic Names . Oregon's postal abbreviation is OR and its FIPS state code

675-567: The "mean girls". The county government has also faced significant budget issues, including not being able to open the Wapato Corrections Facility since it was built in 2003. According to the United States Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 466 square miles (1,210 km), of which 34 square miles (88 km) (7.4%) are covered by water. It is the smallest county in Oregon by area. It

720-546: The 199 cities and counties located in the five West Coast states , Multnomah County ranked 198th in private sector job creation from 1997 to 2009. The county is home to a number of Portland-area attractions and venues, including Oregon Museum of Science and Industry , Portland Art Museum , Memorial Coliseum , Oregon Convention Center , Moda Center , Providence Park , Washington Park , Oregon Zoo , International Rose Test Garden , Lan Su Chinese Garden , Portland Japanese Garden , Hoyt Arboretum and Pittock Mansion . It

765-562: The Central Building, Public Library in 1979. It contains 17 miles (27 km) of bookshelf space and has more than 130 computers for the public. The branch contains 125,000 square feet (11,600 m ) of space. From 1994 to 1997, the interior of the Central Library was partially gutted and extensively renovated. Midland is the largest of the branch locations with a total of 25,000 square feet (2,300 m ) followed by

810-652: The Columbia River", known in Chinookan as ímaɬ or wímaɬ , "the great water"). Explorer William Clark wrote in his journal: "I entered this river...called Multnomah...from a nation who reside on Wappato Island, a little below the enterence" (quoted from Willamette Landings by H.M. Corning).(see:Portland Basin Chinookan Villages in the early 1800s, Boyd and Zenk,) Although Clark refers to the Willamette River as Multnomah, he may not have understood

855-455: The Gresham location with 20,000 square feet (1,900 m ). The Albina, St. Johns and North Portland branches are Carnegie libraries . (There were also four Carnegie libraries no longer part of the system: Arleta , East Portland , the old Gresham Library , and South Portland). As of FY2010, the system has a total of 486 FTE employees, including 91 librarian FTE. Total annual revenue

900-491: The Library Association of Portland (LAP) built the Central Library in downtown Portland at Tenth Street. They did not use any Carnegie funds for the project, instead financing came from a special two-year tax. From 1901 to 1990, for 89 years the library was a two-rack system. While it was supported by public fund, its management was in the hands of LAP, a private non-profit organization, whose board membership

945-411: The board voted to provide library services to the public under government contract. In 1901, the state passed a law to allow governments to tax citizens to pay for libraries; the legislation had been advanced primarily by the newly organized State Federation of Women's Clubs. The city of Portland and the library entered into a contract where the privately owned library continued to own its collection, but

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990-404: The city paid for services, thus creating a free publicly supported library. In January 1901, the library allowed books to circulate for the first time. The governance and operation of library has a circuitous history. On March 16, 1902, Portland's library became the first free library in the state paid for by taxes. At that time it featured more than 38,000 volumes and 215 periodicals. In 1913,

1035-506: The city. Vanport , built north of Portland in 1943 to house workers for Kaiser Shipyards , was destroyed by a flood five years later. In 1968, the Oregon Legislative Assembly referred a bill, Ballot Measure 5 , to voters that would amend the state constitution to allow for consolidated city-county governments when their populations are over 300,000. The 1968 voters' pamphlet noted that Multnomah County would be

1080-571: The county by 104,764 votes, enough to offset the 97,999 vote advantage that George W. Bush had earned among Oregon's 35 other counties. The Democratic tilt was repeated in 2004, when John Kerry won by 161,146 votes, and in 2008, when Barack Obama won by 204,525 votes. In February 2001, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Library Advisory Board and authorized

1125-476: The county was 65.7% White, 5.4% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 7.5% Asian, 0.7% Pacific Islander, and 6.8% from two or more races. About 12.7% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median income for a household in the county was $ 83,668 and the per-capita income was $ 49,713. 12.1% of the population lived below the poverty line. As of the 2010 census , there were 735,334 people, 304,540 households, and 163,539 families resided in

1170-441: The county. The population density was 1,704.9 inhabitants per square mile (658.3/km). There were 324,832 housing units at an average density of 753.2 units per square mile (290.8 units/km). The racial makeup of the county was 76.5% White, 6.5% Asian, 5.6% Black or African American, 1.1% American Indian, 0.5% Pacific Islander, 5.1% from other races, and 4.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 10.9% of

1215-435: The encroachment of political influence, and on the principle that citizens would place more value on something they themselves paid for, even if the payment were small. In 1897, board president George Henry Williams proposed that the librarian be empowered to remove materials deemed to demoralize people and disorganize society," an approach in keeping with common library practice at the time. The library declined an offer of

1260-604: The first librarian, part-time, at its first location on Stark Street in Portland. In 1869, the library moved to the Ladd & Tilton Bank Building where it received free rent. Deady was the president from 1874 until 1893, and found that fundraising was "like pulling teeth", calling the local establishment "closefisted narrow visioned millionaires" in 1888, also stating "The rich men of Portland will never do much for [the library] until they die, and maybe not then." The first major bequest came from Stephen Skidmore in 1883. In 1891,

1305-765: The five largest auto import ports in the nation and is the West Coast's leading exporter of grain and lumber. The Port of Portland is also responsible for Portland International Airport (PDX) in the northeast section of Portland, the Troutdale Airport a few miles east of PDX in Multnomah County, the Hillsboro Airport to the west in Washington County, and Mulino State Airport to the south in Clackamas County. Out of

1350-535: The library to enter into a lawsuit to stop the Children's Internet Protection Act . The US Supreme Court ultimately decided in 2003 that the law was constitutional in US v. ALA . However, the library chose to turn down $ 104,000 per year of federal funding under CIPA to be able to continue to offer unfiltered Internet access. Faced with decreasing government revenues due to a recession in the local economy, voters approved

1395-523: The lower Willamette River has been inhabited for thousands of years, including by the Multnomah band of Chinookan peoples long before European contact, as evidenced by the nearby Cathlapotle village, just downstream. Multnomah County (the 13th in Oregon Territory ) was created on December 22, 1854, formed out of two other Oregon counties – the eastern part of Washington County and

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1440-578: The meaning. Simply put, Multnomah ("down river" or "toward the great water") is the shortened form of nematlnomaq/nímaɬnumax̣ . In 1924, the county's three commissioners were indicted and recalled by voters "in response to 'gross irregularities' in the award of contracts for construction of the Burnside and Ross Island bridges"; since all three had been supported by the Ku Klux Klan , their recall also helped reduce that organization's influence in

1485-459: The northern part of Clackamas County . Its creation was a result of a petition earlier that year by businessmen in Portland complaining of the inconvenient location of the Washington County seat in Hillsboro and of the share of Portland tax revenues leaving the city to support Washington County farmers. County commissioners met for the first time on January 17, 1855. The county is named after

1530-432: The only county in Oregon affected by the measure and voters approved the referendum in the 1968 general election. Since the approval of Measure 5 in 1968, an initiative to merge the county with Portland has been considered and placed on the county ballot several times. In the 2000 presidential election , Multnomah county played a decisive role in determining the winner of the state's electoral votes . Al Gore carried

1575-522: The population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race; 16.0% were of German, 9.0% English, 8.8% Irish, and 5.1% American ancestry; 83.5% spoke English, 6.3% Spanish, 1.7% Vietnamese, and 1.3% Russian as their first language. Of the 272,098 households, 26.5% had children under 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.1% were not families. About 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% had someone living alone who

1620-410: The population. In terms of ancestry, 19.4% were German , 12.2% were Irish , 11.4% were English , and 4.2% were American . Of the 304,540 households, 27.0% had children under 18 living with them, 38.6% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 46.3% were not families, and 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size

1665-448: Was 2.35 and the average family size was 3.03. The median age was 35.7 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 49,618 and for a family was $ 62,956. Males had a median income of $ 45,152 versus $ 38,211 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 28,883. About 11.3% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 21.1% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over. As of

1710-403: Was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.37, and the average family size was 3.03. In the county, the age distribution was 22.3% under 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 96.10 males. The median income for

1755-710: Was a strongly Republican county for much of the first half of the 20th century, but since 1964, it has been the strongest Democratic bastion in Oregon. The Democrats have failed to win a majority in the county only two times since then, in 1972 and 1980. As Multnomah County is by far the most populous county in Oregon, Democratic majorities in the county are often enough to swing the results in statewide elections. In 2008, Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley unseated incumbent two-term Senator Gordon Smith , though Smith carried 28 of Oregon's 36 counties. Merkley carried Multnomah County by over 142,000 votes, however, enough to allow him to defeat Smith by 59,100 votes. The county courthouse

1800-424: Was hereditary, passing from fathers and mothers to sons and daughters. from one generation to the next. By 1978, ex-officio members joining the 35 member LAP board found out that board meetings were often proforma, while "real decisions" were made by a group meeting in a private club. At the same time, the library systems did not seem to work so well, with branches being closed and open hours cut back. The situation

1845-487: Was just over $ 62.8 million, with expenditures of $ 60.5 million. There are more than 425,000 library card holders in the system that serves a population of over 700,000 people, the largest in the state. Multnomah County Library has a total of 1,994,541 books, DVDs, CDs, periodicals, and other library materials. There was a total of 5,799,497 visits in FY2010 with the total circulation of 22,715,292. The library system contains

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1890-456: Was legally quite complicated, since LAP owned all the buildings, books, furniture, and equipment. On top of that it had a collection of rare books and valuable art pieces, and an endowment fund. The legal tangle took almost a decade to resolve. On July 1, 1990, the LAP officially transferred ownership of the library buildings and collections to Multnomah County. The Multnomah County Library operates

1935-512: Was one of the early founders, with financial support coming from those such as Henry Corbett , William S. Ladd , and Erasmus D. Shattuck among others. In an attempt to be more inclusive, the name Library Association of Portland was chosen, likely on Judge Deady's suggestion. William Ladd was the elected its first president. The founders proclaimed "the library should forever be kept free of politics." By March 1864, there were 153 members, who had subscribed $ 2,500. Harvey W. Scott served as

1980-533: Was staffed by D. F. W. Bursch, the library's first trained librarian, who oversaw the implementation of the Dewey Decimal system . It contained 20,000 volumes. Prior to opening the library for free public access, the board tried to lower subscription costs as often as possible to allow a larger percentage of the general public to have access to the resource. The board debated whether to accept government support, with Deady arguing against, out of concern for

2025-418: Was supported by three other commissioners (Serena Cruz, Lisa Naito, and Maria Rojo de Steffey), but criticized by Lonnie Roberts, who represents the eastern part of Multnomah County and was left out of the decision. Within a few days, several groups joined to file a lawsuit to halt the county's action. After that, though, Linn and the three commissioners developed a public feud, with the latter becoming known as

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