Portland Street Names – October 21 – Quimby

During the late 50’s and early 60’s when Portland was changing from a growing village to a bustling town, boats brought to the new docks along the west bank of the Willamette river cargoes of building material and supplies of the many things an embryo city needs. These cargoes had to be removed from the boats to the places where they were to be used and the draying business was good.

W.H. Bennett, the first United States marshal for the district of Oregon and L.P.W. Quimby, for whom Q street was renamed, engaged in 1862 in the trucking business and had more than 100 trucks at work. Mr. Quimby came to Portland in 1862 and has voted here ever since. He was born in Vermont in 1837 and came to California in 1858. In 1863 he started his career as a hotel proprietor and ran the Western hotel with later became the Occidental, at Second and Morrison streets, until 1866, when he brought the American Exchange at the foot of Washington street. The best known of his hotels, however, was the old Quimby house and Fourth and Couch streets.

He was more many years a prominent figure in public life, serving in the state legislature in the 70’s and bearing the distinction of having been the first state game warden, appointed in the 80’s.

Mr. Quimby is still about town and although 84 years old is seen almost daily. He bears the stamp of the earlier days with his Stetson hat, string bow tie and heavy gold watch chain, and loves to talk about the early days of the city in which he has made his home for 69 years. Lately he has been passing his winters in Los Angeles. Saturday when he was interviewed he said he had been a subscriber of The Oregonian ever since he came to Portland.