Portland, Oregon was nicknamed Stumptown in the mid 19th century, when the city’s growth forced land to be cleared quickly to accommodate the growth, but the tree stumps were not immediately removed. Also included in the name of Stumptown are some other cities:
* Whitefish, Montana was also called Stumptown as the area was cleared for the train-station.
* Guerneville, California is the site of an ancient redwood forest, much of which was logged for the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake & fire. Prior to being named after one of the local milling families, Guerneville was called Stumptown for the giant redwood stumps left by the loggers.
* Matthews, North Carolina was originally named Stumptown in the early 1800s after cotton farmers cleared the land, leaving tree stumps everywhere. ( source wikipedia)
I am fascinated with the extensions of the nickname Stumptown and how it has evolved into brand names like Stumptown Coffee, Stumptown Brewery, Stumptown Comic Fest, Stumptown Printers, Stumptown Vegans, Stumptown Snowboards, Stumptown Game Machines, Stumptown Art Studio, Stumptown Rucka, Stumptown Poker, Stumptown Mundo and Stumptown Stages. All of these because some crazy settlers were happy with their axes and cut down a whole lot of trees. If it wasn’t for these clear cutting axe totting men we would not have Stumptown Coffee probably the best coffee in the Pacific Northwest, sorry Starbucks! If your in Portland area you need to check them out:
http://www.stumptownroasters.com
http://www.stumptownroasters.com
- Hours
- 7 am to 9 pm
Monday – Saturday
7 am to 8 pm Sunday - Phone
- 503-295-6144
- Address
- 128 SW 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97204
I am kind of lucky since I travel back and forth from Portland and Sonoma County and get a chance to visit two stumptowns Portland, Oregon and Guernville, California. I was not aware to recently that Guernville was also has the named Stumptown but maybe deep down in my soul I knew. While sadly just like in Portland, Axe swinging men cut down trees and left just the stumps as their handy work. In Guernville the redwoods were cut down to rebuild San Fransisco. If you ever get in the bay area, take the hour drive north and visit Gurenville and see how diverse the area is from sea to redwoods. Just outside of Guernville is Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve & Austin Creek State Recreation Area, 6,805 prestine acres of park to enjoy.
Stumptown’s may have started out as a after thought of mans desire to grow fast without planning but something good has come out of deforestation of four areas. While we should always encourage planning and preserving over a slash and burn mentality smart people made something good of a bad situation. I look at the word Stumptown as a more of a meaning of the Phoenix emerging from the ashes and starting anew.
While the name Stumptown may have started with a negative meaning way back when, today I think the name denotes a meaning of a resurrection. I hope we can all think about all the Stumptown’s as a beacon of hope of how we can rebuild even what mankind has torn down. Flying out of Portland several times a month it still saddens me when we fly over forests that have been leveled in the sake of progress. Even sadder is what is happening in the rain forest of South America. While mother nature helps us to try to recover the best she can, it is up to mankind to think before destroying nature that is linked to our health and well being.