Portland

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Portland, up in Fannin County. Now, every community out here in Texas has a story, and Portland's is one worth slowing down for. It starts, as so many do, with one man and a decision to put down roots.

The earliest known settler in the Portland community was Jesse Green London, born in 1843. He was a Missouri native, a Confederate veteran, and in 1873 he brought his family here and made this place home. He died in 1875, just two years after arriving, so he never got to see what grew up around his choice.

But grow it did. Other families came along, the Teftellers, the Clines, the Bells, the Hendersons, the Goins, and the Biggerstaffs, names that would get woven into the fabric of this little farming community out on the Fannin County land. By the late 1880s, Portland was doing well enough to boast a blacksmith shop and a wood shop.

Small businesses, sure, but the kind that tell you a community has some intention of sticking around. And the children needed schooling. The six-grade Portland School opened in 1879, meeting in a one-room log building.

That single room did its work for nearly two decades, until 1898, when the school district was consolidated with two other area schools. Then came the church. The Portland Congregational Methodist Church was founded at the end of the nineteenth century, and for a good while the congregation worshiped in that same old log schoolhouse.

They made do, the way people out here always made do, until 1909, when a proper sanctuary was built right at this very site. Now here is where the story takes its hard turn. Portland had everything it needed to grow, a school, businesses, a church, a community with real staying power.

But the rail line, when it finally came through, was laid south of the settlement. Not through Portland. South of it.

And in those days, where the rail went, the future went with it. The opportunity for Portland to grow and prosper, as the marker puts it plainly, was denied. What remains today is a few homes and this church building.

But the settlers left something the railroad couldn't reroute. A rich heritage, carried forward by many of their descendants, who still live in this area to this day. Portland didn't become what it might have.

But it became something. And that's not nothing.

What the marker says

The earliest known settler in the Portland community was Jesse Green London (1843-1875). A native of Missouri and a Confederate veteran who brought his family here in 1873. Other early settlers included members of the Tefteller, Cline, Bell, Henderson, Goin, and Biggerstaff families. The small farming community boasted several business establishments, including a blacksmith shop and a wood shop by the late 1880s.The six-grade Portland School opened in 1879 and met in a one-room log building until the school district was consolidated with two other area schools in 1898. The grocery store served as a residence and post office as well. Founded at the end of the 19th century, the Portland Congregational Methodist Church worshiped in the old log schoolhouse until 1909 when a sanctuary was built at this site. The opportunity for Portland to grow and prosper was denied when the rail line was laid south of the settlement. Although a few homes and this church building are all that remain of the community, the settlers left a rich heritage for their descendants, many of whom still live in the area.