Guilds Lake
A watery land with a rich history
Fishing photo is from the Grand Ronde website
What is known as the Guilds Lake area was once a green wetland next to the Willamette River filled with waterfowl, sedges and rushes. It was home to Chinookan and Kalapuyan people. Many indigenous people died of smallpox in the 1830s and the rest were removed to the Grand Ronde Reservation in 1856 by the U.S. government in order to free the land for American pioneer settlement.
View of seasonal flooding with homes of Chinese produce farmers. 1899. Oregon Historical Society OHS 36769.
This images taken for a stereoscope viewing has been attributed as either Guilds Lake or the Columbia River. circa 1890 OHS bb016278
Guilds Lake was subject to seasonal flooding became the home to a community of Chinese farmers who provided vegetables to the Portland markets. These industrious immigrants were frequently not welcomed, especially after the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The following year the community was attacked by vigilantes.
Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition 1905
View from lake and Bandstand 1905 (OHS 28137)
Looking South, Portland City Archives
In 1902 this 180 acre wetland was selected to be the site for the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition of 1905, a world’s fair to celebrate industry and attract investors to the city. With the support of federal, state and local government, John Olmsted, the son of Frederick Law Olmsted designed the site with its Spanish Renaissance facades, sunken gardens, a grand stairway, and an esplanade. Over 1,588,000 visitors enjoyed exhibitions from Japan, Europe and multiple states between June 1 – October 15,1905. Money was made and Portland’s star shone brightly.
Guilds Lake Wetlands- Filled and Flattened
A World’s Fair is a temporary event. The site was largely cleared by 1906, and Guilds Lake disappeared under layers of silt by 1913. The old fair site with the surrounding mud flats were designated as industrial land but remained largely unoccupied.
Guilds Lake was filled in by 1930. Aerial photo OHS 64447. The topographic map in the background is from the Portland City Archives is a Port of Portland Survey September 1922.
WW II Kaiser Shipyards Workers Housing
Guilds Court 1942-50. Portland City Archives A 2001-025.265
Launching of a Liberty Ship, Swan Island Portland. OHS
In 1942 Henry Kaiser came to town and worker housing was developed both on Guilds Lake and in Vanport. Guilds Lake Courts was home to10,000 people in 1945 and continued to be valuable affordable housing for about five years. By 1950 the residential community was taken down to make way for industrial expansion.
Today - shifting sands
Now we stand on flat land with deep layers of time and memory. This small plot of land is emblematic of our history of ‘managed landscape’ and the cultural values intrinsic to colonization.
