In 1833, Elisha Newman filed a federal land grant for extensive land around the Looking Glass and Grand Rivers that would later become the village of Portland. Early Ionia County histories state that Philo Bogue built a trading post on the Grand River later that year, selling New York goods to local travelers. Settlers began arriving in larger numbers in 1836, and in 1837 a post office opened in the new town under the name Portland. The village incorporated in 1869, and the railroad added a stop there that same year, spurring industrial growth. Mills, furniture factories, metal foundries, and a washing machine manufacturer were among its successful businesses, while cultural centers such as an 1880 Opera House and the 1905 Carnegie Library enriched village life. Continuing to grow, Portland incorporated as a city in November 1969. Portland’s Downtown Historic District lies along Kent and Maple Streets between Academy Street and West Grand River Avenue, where the Looking Glass and Grand Rivers once powered planing mills, sawmills, and gristmills. Early downtown structures were built of wood, but brick buildings replaced them after several major fires in the late nineteenth century. The district includes architectural styles ranging from late Victorian era blocks to a Neoclassical bank, an International style bank, and a Modern movie theater. In 1890, the Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company of New York built the iron bridge across the Grand River that became known as Veterans Memorial Bridge, and the district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.