The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon , United States, built in 1933 at a widely advertised cost of $ 1 million ($ 19 million in 2023). Controversial and ambitious, it was intended to replace the Carroll Public Market , centered at southwest Fifth and Yamhill Streets; the Portland Public Market was never popular and was in financial trouble virtually from the day it opened.
8-397: The conception and 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
16-489: A recall effort against city commissioner John Mann, Baker, Riley, and Langley. Signatures for the recall petition were mysteriously stolen during a break-in. Baker was acquitted on the market corruption charges days before the recall vote, which narrowly failed to remove him from office. Two weeks after the vote, Johannsen's house was bombed. The October 18, 2012 edition of the Portland Mercury listed Baker as
24-565: Was William G. Holford. The building was leased to the U.S. Navy in 1943, then sold to The Oregon Journal in July 1946, for use as the newspaper's offices and operations plant beginning in 1948. After publishing from there for 13 years, the paper vacated the building in 1961, and it stood unused until purchased by the City of Portland in 1968. The building was demolished the following year to make way for an expansion of Harbor Drive , which itself
32-421: Was acquitted on the market corruption charges days before the recall vote, which was narrowly defeated and failed to remove him from office. 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 from its 1933 opening until finally closing in 1942. The architect
40-715: Was born in The Dalles, Oregon and attended school in California. Working in the theatrical business, Baker started the Baker Stock Company at the Baker Theater at Third and Yamhill Streets in Portland. He spent nine years as a member of the city council and two years as Commissioner of Public Affairs before being elected mayor. Baker openly drank alcohol during Oregon's Prohibition , a time when he
48-661: Was both the mayor and the enforcer of the laws. He and the Portland Police Bureau took control of liquor distribution (through bootlegging ) and kept speakeasies open. Baker's campaign finance violations and charges of immorality at the raucous 1918 Oregon Auto Dealers' Convention were both brought in front of a grand jury, who declined to indict him. Additionally, the KKK's leader (exalted cyclops) in Portland claimed to have blackmail material on Baker, which could have been any number of things. Baker's $ 7100 home mortgage
56-642: Was paid off by wealthy benefactors including Franklin Griffith of Portland Railway, Light and Power Company , reportedly because Baker claimed he couldn't make enough money as mayor. In 1919-1920 he served as a member of the Federal Electric Railways Commission . By the 1930s, Baker and political allies were embroiled in accepting bribes for locating the Portland Public Market . Johannsen and Gross began
64-553: Was replaced in 1974 by Tom McCall Waterfront Park . There is currently no permanent public market in the city, although plans are in progress to build the James Beard Public Market . 45°30′58″N 122°40′23″W / 45.516°N 122.673°W / 45.516; -122.673 George Luis Baker George Luis Baker (1868–1941) was an American businessman and politician who served as mayor of Portland, Oregon , from 1917 to 1933. Baker
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