Portland has a population of 2,934. Located on the Tennessee-Kentucky
state line, Portland is expanding as city officials look toward improving its
water system and providing for the needs of a community that is seeing residential
growth.
Industry has been an important part of Portland's economy, with several
manufacturing companies located within its borders drawing their labor force
from Portland and the surrounding upper Sumner County areas.
Portland is a community that is passionate about its schools and its children's
achievements in both academics and athletics.
Portland was originally
called Richland. In 1859, the L&N Railroad opened
the Nashville-Bowling Green route through Portland. A train depot was built
in Richland along the Louisville & Nashville railroad in 1859 on land
owned by Thomas Buntin. Buntin became the depot’s first agent and Richland’s
first postmaster. The very existence of the City of Portland is due to the
site of the L&N depot. The community developed around the depot.
Richland grew during
its first year (1859-1860) with the opening of a store built by James
Goostree. The Moore, McGlothlin and Payne families
contributed
greatly to Richland’s early growth.
The seminary in Richland had its beginning in 1874. It was the forerunner
of Sumner County High School. Sumner County High School opened in Portland
in 1915 and was the first public high school in Sumner County.
In 1887, there were
two Richland’s in Tennessee. This caused some
concern on the part of the L&N railroad that a telegraph mix-up might
result in a train wreck. There was also the inconvenience to postal customers
in that mail was frequently misdirected between the two Richlands. Railroad
administrators, with the cooperation of postal authorities, decided that
Richland would become Portland. The new name was activated on April 10,
1888. In April 1904, the Tennessee Assembly enacted legislation incorporating
Portland.
In the 1920s, strawberries became a booming Portland business. The growth
of strawberries as a Portland export crop resulted in a growth of industry.
Crate businesses were formed. The processing and transporting of strawberries
also became major businesses. Beginning in 1941 and continuing through the
years to the present, Portland has hosted an annual Middle Tennessee Strawberry
festival to celebrate and remember the importance of the strawberry industry
to its heritage.
Today, Portland is an industrial leader with employment figures that exceed
its population. It has many assets that other communities its size may not
possess. It has an excellent Parks and Recreation system, a superb library,
a local newspaper, a local radio station, a local hospital, a complete airport,
extremely active civic organizations, a full-service Chamber of Commerce,
a wide variety of churches, professional police and fire departments and
may community-minded, neighborly people
