Tue, Apr 08
|Heritage Museum
April 8 - May 31: Vanport
A traveling exhibit from the Oregon Historical Society.
Time & Location
Apr 08, 2025, 10:00 AM – May 31, 2025, 4:30 PM
Heritage Museum, 281 S 2nd St, Independence, OR 97351, USA
About the Event
Vanport
A Traveling Exhibit from the Oregon Historical Society
April 8 - May 31, 2025
On Memorial Day in 1948, the Columbia River roared downstream fifteen feet above the flood plain in Portland and broke through a railroad embankment serving as a dike. The flood eventually destroyed the city of Vanport and left thousands of people homeless.
The Vanport traveling exhibit tells the story of the City of Vanport through four pull-up banners. Vanport was the largest wartime housing development in the nation and the second largest city in Oregon before it was destroyed by floodwater. Although Vanport had a short history from 1942 to 1948, thousands of people called the city home.
