RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Portland ...

Portland is located in Whiteside County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Portland, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1846.

When the people of Portland refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Portlander<2>

Portland is 620 feet [189 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Portland lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Communities Also Named Portland ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Illinois communities named Portland: This one is located in Whiteside County and the other is located in Franklin County.

Beyond Illinois, there are 32 communities that are also named Portland - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado (2), Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky (3), Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New York (2), Newfoundland and Labrador, North Dakota, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania (2), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin (2).

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Portland.

Communities near Portland ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Portland.

  • Clinton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
    • Clinton is located in Clinton County (IA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,039 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clinton <4>
  • Sterling
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Rock Falls
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Geneseo
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Camanche
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camanche
    • Camanche is located in Clinton County (IA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,368 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Camanche <4>
  • Le Claire
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Morrison
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Fulton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
    • Fulton is located in Whiteside County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,285 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fulton <4>
  • Port Byron
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Erie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erie have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
    • Erie is located in Whiteside County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,482 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <4>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Portland. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Portland.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Portland. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Portland.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Portland. See our Newspapers Page for Portland.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Portland ...

Looking for more information about Portland? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Portland, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Portland.

Adding Portland to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Portland in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Portland was in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

We also found Portland in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Portland.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Whiteside, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Portland refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Portland may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Portland - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.