Portland Street Names – November 04, 1921 – Morrison

Old painting and prints depicting scenes in and around Portland in the ’50s and earlier show sturdy log cabins in groves of magnificent trees, with the Willamette river in the background, and the titles of these pictures often name a place which is now the site of a large office building or a string of wharves.

The log cabin for a number of years was the standard type of residence for the early citizens of Portland. The first frame house ever built in the city was on the street no named Morrison, between Front and First streets. The exact location is not definitely known, but the house was built by John L. Morrison and the street on which it stood was named in his honor.

John L. Morrison was a Scotchman and a pioneer to Oregon City in 1842. What little is known of him is mostly in connection with building, and he put up several houses in Oregon City. His residenceship in Portland was brief and later he left Oregon for Washington. He died on Orcas Island, one of a group in the north end of Puget Sound.