OREGONSCAPE

Forestry Building under construction, 1905 OHS neg., bc003321
The buildings and exhibits of Portland's 1905 world's fair, the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, celebrated the region's current prosperity and looked toward a bright future in the new century. But there was one spectacular building that looked back — to the days of tall trees and a never-ending forest, to the pioneers who had turned that forest into a city by the river, and to the time when log cabins dotted the region.	1
The Forestry Building stood out in several ways. It was rough and plain while the fair-buildings that surrounded it were refined and sophisticated. It was dark wood while the others were white plaster. It was built from real trees so that it would last for decades. Most of the others were built with only lathe and plaster, meant to last through the year of the fair and then disappear. By 1911, nearly all of structures except the Forestry Building had been removed from the fair site.	2
In one way, however, the Forestry Building was just like the other exhibit halls. It was big. The columns were old-growth timber, cut before the sap runs and delivered with bark intact. In all, about 300 logs were used to build the 206-by-102-foot structure, which was designed by Portland architects A.E. Doyle and Ion Lewis. The building was finished on March 8, 1905, at a cost of $30,165.	3
When the fair closed, the Forestry Building and the exhibits inside were given to the city of Portland. George G. Lynch, a New York promoter, offered $200,000 for the building, which he wanted to move to Coney Island. The city refused. The huge log cabin remained in Portland, on Northwest Twenty-eighth and Upshur streets, until August 17, 1964, when it was destroyed by fire. Investigators concluded that the fire had likely been started by faulty wiring or embers from trash burning earlier in the day.	4
—Mikki Tint, Special Collections Librarian, OHS Research Library

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