Swan Island (Oregon)

File:Swan Island in 1920.tif

The island was first noted as "Willow Island" by the United States Exploring Expedition in 1844.{{sfn|McArthur|McArthur|2003|p=927}}{{cite web |author=William F. Willingham |title=Swan Island |website=The Oregon Encyclopedia |url=https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/swan_island/#.XDFNOc9KjjA |access-date=January 7, 2019}} River traffic on the Willamette was impeded by a bar near the island, and annual dredging by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was required to maintain a navigable channel.{{sfn|Willingham|1983|pp=22–23}} A 1914 Oregonian article reported that the Portland Commission of Public Docks was unanimously in favor of removing the island, instead of developing it for commerce.{{cite news |title=River Obstacle May Be Removed |work=The Morning Oregonian |date=October 4, 1914 |page=18 |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1913-10-04/ed-1/seq-18/}}{{cite news |title=Removal of Swan Island Advocated |work=The Sunday Oregonian |date=April 3, 1910 |at=Sec. 3, p. 10 |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1910-04-03/ed-1/seq-42/}}{{cite news |title=Swan Island Purchase by Port of Portland Is Urged |work=The Sunday Oregonian |date=August 22, 1915 |at=Sec. 1, p. 10 |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1915-08-22/ed-1/seq-10/}}

The purchase of Swan Island was proposed to Portland's city council in March 1920 as part of a $10,000,000 harbor development plan.{{cite news |title=$10,000,000 Asked to Develop Port: Plan Includes Purchasing of Swan Island |work=The Morning Oregonian |date=March 25, 1920 |page=1 |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1920-03-25/ed-1/seq-1/}} Other features of this "Swan Island project" included the development of Mock's Bottom, a swampy area directly east of Swan Island, and the draining of Guild's Lake, located west of the island.{{cite news |title=New Port Project to be Viewed Today |work=The Morning Oregonian |date=March 26, 1920 |page=6 |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1920-03-26/ed-1/seq-6/}}{{cite news |title=Swan Island Development Project is for Greater Port |work=The Sunday Oregonian |date=April 4, 1920 |at=sec. 4, p. 6 |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1920-04-04/ed-1/seq-64/}}

{{main|Swan Island Airport}}

The island was purchased by the Port of Portland in December 1921 at a cost of $120,577.{{cite news |title=Port of Portland Buys Swan Island |work=The Morning Oregonian |date=December 9, 1921 |page=1 |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1921-12-09/ed-1/seq-1/}} The Port of Portland initially intended to develop Swan Island as a freight terminal site, but decided to construct an airport on the island to speed up the distribution of air mail to the city. Portland did not have an airport at the time, and air mail was instead flown to Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, about {{convert|10|mi}} distant.{{cite magazine |title=Building an Airport With Dredges |work=Scientific American |date=September 1927 |volume=137 |issue=3 |page=233}} A causeway connecting Swan Island to the Willamette's east bank was constructed in conjunction with the airport.{{cite news |title=Dredges to Work on West Channel: Swan Island Causeway Fill to Be Completed |work=The Morning Oregonian |date=November 11, 1927 |page=4}}{{cite news |title=Portland Leading in Aviation Work |work=The Sunday Oregonian |date=January 1, 1928 |at=Sec. 1, p. 10}} Approximately 65 percent of the material dredged from the river—more than {{convert|20|e6cuyd|abbr=off}}—was deposited in Guild's Lake, and much of the rest was used to connect Swan Island to the Willamette's east bank.{{cite journal |author1=Karin Dibling |author2=Julie Kay Martin |author3=Meghan Stone Olson |author4=Gayle Webb |title=Guild's Lake Industrial District: The Process of Change Over Time |work=Oregon Historical Quarterly |date=Spring 2006 |volume=107 |issue=1 |page=102 |jstor=20615612 |display-authors=2}}

Swan Island Airport was dedicated in 1927. Passenger service ceased in 1940, after completion of the Portland–Columbia Airport, but limited operations continued at the Swan Island airport until 1942.{{sfn|MacColl|1979|pp=249–251}} The Port of Portland leased the Swan Island airport to the federal government in March 1942.{{cite news |title=Swan Isle Airport Leased to U.S. for Shipbuilding |work=The Oregonian |date=March 10, 1942 |at=Sec. 3, p. 3}}{{cite news |title=Once Scenic Swan Island Yields Its Beauty to the Need for Tankers |work=The Oregonian |date=April 13, 1942 |at=Sec. 3, p. 4}} Tenants of the Swan Island airport were ordered to leave the facilities in late February 1942 to make way for a U.S. Maritime Commission shipyard. At the time of the order, 150 privately owned aircraft were being stored at the airport.{{cite news |author=Gerry Weaver |title=Swan Island Plane Owners Don't Know Where to Fly |work=The Oregonian |date=March 6, 1942 |page=16}}

{{main|Swan Island Shipyard}}

File:13-1-4 Kaiser-Swan-25.jpg

The Swan Island Shipyard was one of seven constructed by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser on the West Coast—three in the Portland–Vancouver area and four in Richmond, California—to help meet the production demands of the U.S. Maritime Commission in World War II. Swan Island became the site of Kaiser's third Northwest shipyard (the others being the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation in North Portland, and the Vancouver Shipyard in Vancouver, Washington).{{cite news |author=Tom Vogt |title=Working on the war effort at Vancouver’s Kaiser Shipyard |work=The Columbian |date=August 18, 2013 |url=http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/aug/19/war-effort-clark-county-kaiser-shipyard/ |access-date=January 14, 2019}}{{cite news |author=Allan Brettman |title=Shipbuilder Vigor picks Vancouver for Army landing craft manufacturing |work=The Columbian |date=February 1, 2019 |url=https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/feb/01/shipbuilder-choses-vancouver-for-army-landing-craft-manufacturing-site/ |access-date=February 2, 2019}} The completed Swan Island Shipyard had a total of 8 shipways and began production in July 1942.{{cite news |title=Swan Island Industrial Project for War Takes Form; 5000 Workers There Now; 40,000 Due Later This Year |work=The Sunday Oregonian |date=July 26, 1942 |at=Sec. 1, p. 21}} The shipyard was one of four in the U.S. specifically designed to produce T2 tankers, producing 153 by the end of the war.{{sfn|Sawyer|Mitchell|1974|pp=129–143}}{{cite web |title=Kaiser Swan Island, Portland OR |website=ShipbuildingHistory.com |url=http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/kswanisland.htm |access-date=January 25, 2019}}

After the conclusion of World War II, there was some dispute about whether Swan Island should continue to be used as an industrial area or re-appropriated for aviation purposes.{{cite news |title=Swan Island Faults Cited: Report Questions Airport Quality |work=The Oregonian |date=December 11, 1946 |page=31}}{{cite news |title=Compromise Swan Island Plan Offered |work=The Sunday Oregonian |date=December 22, 1946 |at=Sec. 1, p. 18}} Kaiser's dry dock and ship repair facilities were ultimately acquired by the Port of Portland in 1948.{{cite news |title=Portland Shipyard Chronology |work=The Oregonian |date=April 15, 2001 |page=D02}} Oregon voters approved an $84 million bond to expand the shipyard in the late 1970s.{{cite news |title=Swan Island Dock: High and Dry? |work=The Oregonian |date=April 14, 2001 |page=A01}} The Port of Portland sold the facilities to shipbuilder Cascade General in 2000 at a cost of $30.8 million.{{cite news |author=Gail Kinsey Hill |title=Cascade Gets Cash to Buy Shipyard |work=The Oregonian |date=June 13, 2000 |page=D01}}{{cite news |author=Gail Kinsey Hill |title=Big Things in Shipyard's Future |work=The Oregonian |date=June 30, 2000 |page=B01}}

Swan Island is currently the location of a {{convert|430|acre|adj=on}} industrial park managed by the Port of Portland.{{cite web |title=Swan Island Industrial Park |publisher=Port of Portland |url=https://www.portofportland.com/SwanIsland |access-date=January 7, 2019}} The industrial development extends into the adjacent Mock's Bottom area, a natural wetland that was filled in the 1960s.{{cite journal |author=Glen D. Carter |title=Oregon Voices: Pioneering Water Pollution Control in Oregon |work=Oregon Historical Quarterly |date=Summer 2006 |volume=107 |issue=2 |page=269 |jstor=20615637}}{{cite news |title=The Cut: Part III |work=St. Johns Review |date=April 22, 2016 |at=p. 4, col. 5 |url=http://www.stjohnsreview.com/sourcefiles/2015/2016%207-April%2022.pdf#page=4}} Shipbuilder Vigor Industrial is headquartered at Swan Island, where it operates a {{convert|60|acre|adj=on}} shipyard with three dry docks.{{cite web |title=Portland, OR Facilities |publisher=Vigor Industrial |url=http://vigor.net/facilities/portland |access-date=January 11, 2019}} Swan Island is also the headquarters of Daimler Trucks North America.{{cite web |title=Corporate Headquarters |publisher=Daimler Trucks North America |url=https://daimler-trucksnorthamerica.com/innovate/corporate-headquarters/ |access-date=January 11, 2019}}{{cite news |author=Mike Rogoway |title=Daimler new HQ ready for next 40 years |work=The Oregonian |date=April 20, 2016 |page=B09}} FedEx and UPS have packaging and distribution centers at the site.{{cite news |author=Anna Marum |title=FedEx opens Portland facility as Amazon eyes shipping industry |work=OregonLive |date=April 6, 2016 |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/window-shop/index.ssf/2016/04/fedex_swan_island_amazon.html |access-date=January 11, 2019}}{{cite news |author=Kristian Foden-Vencil |title=UPS Opens Expanded Swan Island Facility |publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting |date=July 30, 2010 |url=https://www.opb.org/news/article/ups-opens-expanded-swan-island-facility/ |access-date=January 11, 2019}} As of 2008, more than 10,000 people were employed at the industrial park.{{cite news |author=Ted Sickinger |title=Swan Island buzzes despite departures |work=The Oregonian |date=October 19, 2008 |page=C1}}

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• {{cite book |last=MacColl |first=E. Kimbark |title=The Growth of a City: Power and Politics in Portland, Oregon, 1915 to 1950 |location=Portland |publisher=Georgian Press |date=1979 |isbn=0-9603408-1-5}}
• {{cite book |last1=McArthur |first1=Lewis A. |last2=McArthur |first2=Lewis L. |title=Oregon Geographic Names |edition=7th |location=Portland |publisher=Oregon Historical Society Press |date=2003 |isbn=0-87595-278-X}}
• {{cite book |last1=Sawyer |first1=L. A. |last2=Mitchell |first2=W. H. |title=Victory Ships and Tankers: The History of the Victory Type Cargo Ships and of the Tankers Built in the United States of America During World War II |location=Newton Abbot, England |publisher=David & Charles |date=1974 |isbn=0-7153-6036-1}}
• {{cite book |last=Willingham |first=William F. |title=Army Engineers and the Development of Oregon: A History of the Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Government Printing Office |date=1983 |oclc=11317858}}

{{refend}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Swan Island (Oregon)}}

{{Overlook, Portland, Oregon}}

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Category:Geography of Portland, Oregon

Category:History of Portland, Oregon

Category:Islands of the Willamette River

Category:Landforms of Multnomah County, Oregon

Category:Overlook, Portland, Oregon

Category:Port of Portland (Oregon)