Pittock Mansion

A visit to the Pittock Mansion takes us to the highest point in the city. From here we get a good view of the surrounding areas.



To quote from Wikipedia,

The Pittock Mansion is a French Renaissance-style château in the West Hills of Portland, Oregon, USA. The mansion was originally built in 1909 as a private home for London-born Oregonian publisher Henry Pittock and his wife, Georgiana. It is a 46-room estate built of Tenino Sandstone situated on 46 acres (190,000 m²) that is now owned by the city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation and open for touring.^[2]

Out tour driver told us that Portland had recently installed electricity (DC, not AC) in the city and Pittock wanted electricity up on this hill for his home. So he told the city to install it. They gave him the price for sunning the wires up the hill. His reply was something along the lines of, "I don't think you understand. I want you to install it for free." When the city fathers objected, he pointed out that he knew where the bodies were buried and had the "pictures with the goats" as some might say now. In short, he pointed out that he could bring them all down with his newspaper. I got free electricity installed.

When the first months electric bill showed up, the process repeated and he got his free electricity...no bills to pay!

Meanwhile, Henry Pittock sat here looking out at the city of Portland laid at his feet. While in 1909 it wasn't as big as it is now, it was his city nevertheless, and he knew it.