Portland Public Market, Public market in downtown Portland, Oregon

The Portland Public Market was a three-story market hall, three blocks long, with eleven-story towers, built in 1933 to a design by architect William G. Holford. It had a gas station, rooftop parking and a 500-seat auditorium. It closed in 1942, was leased to the U.S. Navy in 1943, housed The Oregon Journal from 1948 to 1961, and was demolished in 1969.

The Portland Public Market opened in 1933, built at a widely advertised cost of $1 million to replace the Carroll Public Market at Southwest Fifth and Yamhill. Its siting was tied to corruption involving Mayor George Luis Baker and commissioner John Mann; a recall effort failed after petition signatures were stolen and a recall leader's house was bombed. It closed in 1942, was leased to the U.S. Navy in 1943, sold to The Oregon Journal in 1946, and demolished in 1969.

The market's name was tied to a later plan, not to the 1933 building: the James Beard Public Market is the proposed replacement for a city that has had no permanent public market since 1942. The original hall was promoted as a civic showpiece, with a 500-seat auditorium and rooftop parking, but tenants left steadily and it closed after nine years.

The building stood three blocks long at the site later crossed by Harbor Drive, demolished in 1969, so nothing of it remains to visit; Tom McCall Waterfront Park, which replaced that road in 1974, now covers the ground. The city still has no permanent public market, though plans for the James Beard Public Market are in progress.

The market's conception and siting were tied to corruption involving Mayor George Luis Baker and commissioner John Mann. A recall petition's signatures were stolen in a break-in, and the home of one of the two recall leaders was bombed; Baker was acquitted days before the vote, which narrowly failed.