Portland Street Names – November 02, 1921 – Upshur

“With the exception of Roosevelt street, the name of Upshur is the only one in the list running in alphabetical order from Ankeny to York street which does not appear in some form or other in the early annals of Portland history. U street was renamed Upshur in honor of either Rear-Admiral John Henry Upshur or his son, Custis Parke Upshur, the latter a resident of Astoria for 51 years.

Custis Parke Upshur was, for many years, connected with river navigation and is remembered now as the purser on the steamboat Bonita, which plied between Astoria and Portland. In this capacity he became acquainted with many Portlanders, and a close friend of several who might have a been influential in choosing his name for U street, either in his honor or his father’s. He married one of the Trenchard daughters, an early and notable Astoria family, making was was termed a very blue-blooded combination.

Rear-Admiral John Henry Upshur was born in Virginia in 1823 and graudated from the naval academy in 1848. He served in many capacities in the navy, according to Who’s Who in American, 1916-1917. When promoted to rear-admiral he was ordered to command the Pacific naval forces. He retired in May, 1885, from the navy and died in 1917 at the age of 94 years.