Simon Benson

Simon Benson started life as a poor farm boy in Norway. He came to America as a teen and began a spectacular rise to become the top logger in Oregon, then spent the second half of his life giving back to his adopted home with a series of business ventures and philanthropic contributions that helped make Portland and Oregon a better place to live. As a businessman, he became an early adopter of technology in his field, harnessing steam power to help his logging and milling operations. Eventually, he developed enormous log rafts to take his lumber to Southern California, helping to build the great cities of that region. After retiring, he turned his attention from logging to his new home city of Portland. He donated the iconic water fountains that still today are known as Benson Bubblers. Always looking ahead, he saw that tourism would play a large role in scenic Oregon. First, he built the magnificent Benson Hotel, still one of Portland's finest; later, he also built the beautiful Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River. Then he helped spearhead construction of the spectacular Scenic Columbia River Highway, known since it opened as the "King of Roads." Finally, he gave the city Benson Polytechnic High School, still one of Portland's top public schools. In 1915, he was named Oregon's First Citizen at a ceremony at the Pan-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

Benson's legacy helped shape the Oregon we know today, and his name is inescapable in Portland. Sadly, however, the man himself has largely been forgotten. Few people know who he was or what he contributed to the home he loved. This book will bring his story to a new generation of people who love Portland and Oregon.