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Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

03/24/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/24/2023 15:53

National Park Service Lists Portland Golf Club Clubhouse and Golf Course in Portland in the National Register of Historic Places

Portland, OR-The Portland Golf Club Clubhouse and Golf Course is among Oregon's latest entries in the National Register of Historic Places. Oregon's State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation (SACHP) recommended the nomination at their October 2022 meeting. The National Park Service - which maintains the National Register of Historic Places - accepted this nomination in February 2023.

The Portland Golf Club Clubhouse and Golf Course is located at 5900 SW Scholls Ferry Road in unincorporated Washington County, Oregon approximately six miles southwest of downtown Portland, Oregon in the city's Raleigh Hills neighborhood.

Development and design of the course was undertaken by the initial members, who transformed the 115-acre tract of land at Firlock Station on the Oregon Electric Railroad, which was selected over alternative sites such as the former Ladd Farm in the northeast portion of Portland, into a functioning golf course. The completion of the course's construction occurred in 1915.

Between 1915-1965 the Portland Golf Course was the premiere Golf Course in the Portland Metropolitan Area, having hosted more high-profile amateur and professional events than any other course in the state. This included the 1946 PGA Championship and the 1947 Ryder Cup.

A litany of winners in tournaments on the course included Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Cary Middlecoff, Billy Casper, Jack Nicklaus, Kathy Whitworth, Donna Caponi Young, and Nancy Lopez. The last major PGA Tour event held at the course, before the PGA required courses to have longer tracks to host PGA Tour events, happened in 1965.

The National Register is maintained by the National Park Service under the authority of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

This effort is in line with Oregon's Statewide Preservation Plan that seeks to increase the number of listings in the National Register. It also supports the goals to increase access to Oregon heritage that are part of the Oregon Heritage Plan.

Properties listed in the National Register are:
• Recognized as significant to the nation, state, or community;
• Considered in the planning of federal or federally-assisted projects;
• Eligible for federal and state tax benefits;
• Qualify for historic preservation grants when funds are available;
• Eligible for leniency in meeting certain building code requirements;
• Subject to local laws pertaining to the conservation and protection of historic resources.

State law in Oregon requires local governments to offer a minimal level of protection for properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places; the decisions about how to accomplish that goal reside with local governments, which also have the authority to create and regulate local historic districts and landmarks.

More information about the National Register and recent Oregon listings are online at oregonheritage.org (listed under "Designate").