List of Famous Portland Buildings & Structures

Reference
Updated June 9, 2017150 items

List of the famous landmarks that make up the Portland skyline, listed alphabetically with photos when available. Portland architectural landmarks as well as other major buildings, dwellings, and other structures in Portland are included on this list. Information about these Portland buildings is included on this list, such as when the building first opened and what architectural style it falls under. List includes both new buildings in Portland and older historic landmarks.

Buildings on this list include Portland Breakwater Light and Ladd Carriage House.

This list answers the question, "What are the most famous buildings in Portland?"

This is a good reference for research into the historical architecture in Portland. Famous architectural houses within the city of Portland are included as well, sometimes by address, other times listed by the name of the original home owner.

  • 511 Federal Building

    The 511 Federal Building is a former federal post office that currently houses Department of Homeland Security offices for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Portland, Oregon, United States. It also housed various other government entities in the past such as the Department of Agriculture. The building was constructed in 1916–1918 and opened in 1919 after being commissioned by the Secretary of the Treasury, one of the last post offices built under the 1893 Tarsney Act, and cost $1 million. It was designed by architect Lewis P. Hobart. It is located between Portland's Old Town Chinatown and the Pearl District. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, as the U.S. Post Office. The building is six stories tall and has a footprint of approximately 20,000 square feet. The Department of Homeland Security is expected to vacate the building in the next few years. New sites have been selected in the nearby Pearl District, and in Southwest Portland. In autumn 2005, the General Services Administration began working on the disposal of the building.
    • City/Town: Portland, Oregon, USA
    • Opened: Jan 01 1916
    • Architect: Lewis P. Hobart
    • Created By: Lewis P. Hobart
    • Style: Neoclassical architecture

  • A. H. Maegly House

    The A. H. Maegly House is a house located in southwest Portland, Oregon, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located in the upscale Arlington Heights neighborhood. Built for Aaron H. Maegly, a wealthy Portland broker, the distinctive house was completed in 1915. It was designed by Portland architect John Virginius Bennes, in the Prairie School style, an architectural style that is rare in Oregon. The house is constructed of reinforced concrete, covered by stucco, and has a red tile roof. Among the features of the Maegly House that are often included in Prairie School-style dwellings are decorative corner brackets and ornamental friezes, above and below the second-floor windows. One narrow frieze positioned just below the eaves encircles the entire house except where interrupted at the corners by the decorative brackets. The interior is noteworthy for its use of high-quality Honduran mahogany. Every room in the house has multiple windows, and every ground-floor room opens to a porch or terrace. Downtown Portland and Mount Hood can be seen from the living room, dining room and kitchen.
    • City/Town: Portland, Oregon, USA
    • Style: Prairie School

  • Abyssinian Meeting House

    The Abyssinian Meeting House is a historic house built by free African-Americans in Portland, Maine at 73–75 Newbury Street in the Munjoy Hill and downtown neighborhoods. Throughout the years, the Abyssinian was a place for worship and revivals, abolition and temperance meetings, speakers and concerts, the Female Benevolent Society, the Portland Union Anti-Slavery Society and negro conventions, and the black school in Portland from the mid-1840s through the mid-1850s. The building is the only Underground Railroad site in Maine recognized by the National Park Service.
    • City/Town: Maine, USA
    • Opened: Jan 01 1828
    • Style: Federal architecture

  • Adam P. Leighton House

    Adam P. Leighton House is an historic house in Portland, Maine. Located in the Portland's West End, it was built in 1902-03 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was the home Adam P. Leighton, who was "considered the father of the American postcard industry" and served as the Mayor of Portland from 1908-09.
    • City/Town: Portland, Maine, USA
    • Style: Colonial Revival architecture

  • Alice Henderson Strong House

    The Alice Henderson Strong House is a house located in southwest Portland, Oregon listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
    • City/Town: Portland, Oregon, USA
    • Architect: Ellis F. Lawrence
    • Created By: Ellis F. Lawrence

  • Ambassador Apartments

    The Ambassador Apartments is a historic building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Since 1979, it has been on the National Register of Historic Places. Described as Jacobean, the Ambassador Apartments is unique in Portland for substituting Idaho sandstone instead of the glazed terra-cotta common in the facades and trim of structures dating from the 1920s. Located on prime downtown real estate, the building has now been converted into condominiums. In 1999, the smallest unit available was advertised for $148,000.
    • City/Town: Portland, Oregon, USA
    • Opened: Jan 01 1922
    • Style: Tudor Revival architecture