Portland Street Names – November 16, 1921 – Himes

There are many streets in Portland named for people who have played parts in the history of the city, a thoughtful custom in street naming and it was equally thoughtful to name one street for the man who has helped and been instrumental in preserving the history of the city and state.

On Council Crest there is a Himes steet, named for George Henry Himes, the curator and assistant secretary of the Oregon Historical society since it’s origin in 1899, and a resident of Portland since 1864.

He was born in Pennsylvania, May 18, 1844, moved with his parents to Illinois in 1846 and in 1853 crossed the plains with them to Olympia, Wash., where he lived until he was 20 years of age, taking part in four different stockade and blockhouse fights in the Yakima uprising.

In 1864 Mr. Himes came to Portland as a journeyman printer and went to work on The Oregonian. In 1865 he started to work in a job printing office and the following year became the proprietor of it, remaining in this business until 1899, when he took his present position.

As early as 1888 he had advocated the founding of an Oregon historical society as a better means of carrying out the aims of the association, of which he had been secretary since 1886 that of preserving the early history of the state.

In the 20 and more years he has served as curator of the society he has amassed a fine museum and collected documents, books and records that tell as nearly as could be told the entire history of Oregon from her beginning to the present day. Mr Himes is an an acknowledged authority on Portland and Oregon history, having a remarkably keen memory that serves many delvers into history instead of books. For preserving history he should have his own niche just as the makers of history have theirs.