Wells Fargo Building (Portland, Oregon)

{{Short description|Historic bank building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.}}

{{distinguish|Wells Fargo Center (Portland, Oregon){{!}}Wells Fargo Center}}

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Wells Fargo Building

| image = Historic Wells Fargo Building - Portland Oregon.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption =

| alternate_names = Porter Building
US National Bank Building{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}

| location = 309 SW 6th Avenue
Portland, Oregon

| coordinates = {{coord|45.521620|-122.677575|region:US-OR|display=inline,title}}

| map_type = USA Portland downtown

| map_caption = Location in Portland

| start_date = 1905

| completion_date = 1907

| building_type = Commercial offices

| roof = {{convert|56.4|m|abbr=on}}

| floor_count = 12

| elevator_count =

| cost =

| floor_area = {{convert|20903|sqft|abbr=on}}

| structural_engineer=

| main_contractor =

| developer =

| owner =

| management =

| architect = Benjamin Wistar Morris III

| nrhp = {{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| nrhp_type =

| designated_other1_name = Portland Historic Landmark{{citation|author=Portland Historic Landmarks Commission|title=Historic Landmarks -- Portland, Oregon|format=XLS|date=July 2010|url=http://www.portlandonline.com/planning/index.cfm?c=44013&a=146276|accessdate=November 13, 2013}}.

| designated_other1_color = lightgreen

| refnum = 86002839

| architecture = Neo-Renaissance

| added = October 9, 1986

}}

| references = {{Cite web |url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/122629 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061755/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/122629 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |title=Emporis building ID 122629 |work=Emporis}}{{skyscraperpage|14401}}

}}

The Wells Fargo Building is a historic office building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The large doorstep at the building's entryway required the largest slab of granite ever shipped to Portland at the time.{{cite book |last= King |first= Bart |page= 25 |title= An Architectural Guidebook to Portland |location= Salt Lake City |publisher= Gibbs Smith |year= 2001 |isbn= 9780879059910}} Completed in 1907, the steel-framed building is considered the city's first true skyscraper. At 12 stories and with a height of {{convert|182|ft|m}},[http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1910-02-06/ed-1/seq-48/ "Yeon Skyscraper Starts March 10"]. (February 6, 1910). The Sunday Oregonian, Section 4, p. 12. it was the tallest building in Portland (and indeed in all of Oregon),{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} exclusive of towers, and remained so for four years. The clock tower of the 1892-completed Oregonian Building, which measured {{convert|194|ft|m}} in height, made that building the tallest in the city overall.

In 1946,"$875,000 Annex for U. S. National; Porter Building Pioneers City's Steel Construction". (September 26, 1946). The Oregonian, p. 18. the building was purchased by the United States National Bank of Portland, whose headquarters was located in a smaller building located directly adjacent, immediately to the south. U.S. National Bank used the Wells Fargo Building to expand its downtown Portland headquarters.{{cite news|last=Pratt|first=Gerry|title=Bank Offers Bonus: New Life to Old Area|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=October 28, 1970|page=38}}

In 1986, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.{{cite web|title=Oregon National Register List|publisher=Oregon Parks and Recreation Department|url=http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf|page=42|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425031913/https://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf|archive-date=April 25, 2018|url-status=dead|date=June 6, 2011|access-date=August 7, 2023}}