Houseboats at Portland's First Stockyards - c. 1905

Looking from the Willamette River across the houseboats to Portland's first Union Stock Yards, located in the northwest industrial area at 17th and Vaughn. First opened in the 1890s by Louis Burke, of the Nebraska-based Burke livestock family, the stock yards started as two leased acres, and were large enough to house twelve to fourteen railroad cars of livestock.

After a succession of owners at 17th and Vaughn, in 1909 the stockyards were greatly enlarged when they were moved to the Columbia River by Swift and Company. By the 1950s they had become the largest in the Pacific Northwest.

-- This photo is restored and printed by Old Oregon.