Abstract of title. Lawyers Title and Trust Company. No. 25773. [To the following described real property situated in the corporate limits of the City of Portland, County of Multnomah, and State of Oregon, to-wit - Lot Three, Four, Five, and Six, in Block 57, “Portland.” [Present day site of the Portland Public Service building encompassing the block between SW 4th & SW 5th Ave., and SW Main and Madison streets].

Portland, OR: Lawyers Title and Trust Company, 87 Fourth St., Henry Building, [Nov., 1919]. Folio. 8.25 x 13.25 in. 103 (i.e. 104) leaves, typescript manuscript, mimeograph typescript, TLS on letterhead. Including 4 maps (1 reproducing original William W. Chapman Homestead Claim; 1 blueprint cyanotype map reproducing 1862 plat map of Chapman; blueprint cyanotype map of Portland & East Portland dated 1866; 1 blueprint cyanotype of Lownsdales Map of Portland Claim). Mustard-coloured cloth post-binder, sewn at upper fore-edge w/ white string, ink manuscript identifying property, black lettering stamped on front cover (minor shelfwear, rubbing, occasional creasing, scuffing), still VG copy, 2 TLS are signed Pres. Gordon of the Lawyers Title and Trust Company, Portland, OR, dated Sept. 22 & Nov. 24, 1919, from the library of Caroline Augusta Gray Kamm (1840-1932), noted socialite and philanthropist in Portland, built home for poor women & girls with the YWCA, and was daughter of PNW pioneer William H. Gray (1810-1889). Scarce Abstract of Title typescript manuscript prepared for Caroline Kamm, regarding properties accumulated by her husband Jacob Kamm, and then inherited by her upon his death and according to his will included here in 1912, in order to clear liens on the properties. These lots were part of the properties originally granted to Stephen Coffin (1807-1882) and Daniel H. Lownsdale in 1850, and subsequently acquired by Oregon Pioneer William Chapman (1808-1892) and where he built a home occupied for only a few years, and later served as the Surveyor General of Oregon from 1857-1861, but opposed US President Abraham Lincoln. Others who owned parcels included in the Kamm holdings listed here encompassed were John H. Couch, and Benjamin Stark. Coffin was one of the earliest investors and land promoters in Oregon, who in 1849 had bought a half-interest in the entire Portland townsite, and in 1856 with neighbor Finice Caruthers established the Pioneer Water Works driking water supply for the City. Lownsdale (1803-1862) was another owner of the original townsite, and actually was the one who resurveyed Portland with 200 feet per side small blocks, 64 foot streets, and added the contiguous park blocks. Documents reproduced within this Abstract of Title also include Ordinance No. 69 which governed the 1869 Survey of the City of Portland, and Couch’s Addition; Ordinance No. 177 which regulated the base line and surveys of the City boundaries, Ordinance 178, Ordinance 619; description of the Donation Claim plat map in 1862; the numerous ownership changes amongst the McMillen’s, Bolsinger’s, Crouse’s, Herrington’s, William Ladd, and more to Jacob Kamm. Included in the entirety as well was the Probate No. 10444 filed to clear the estate of Jacob Kamm filed by Caroline Gray Kamm in Dec., 1912, which carefully delineated all of the properties owned by the deceased, and their values. It appears from the Will that Kamm, Oregon Steam & Navigation Co., Vancouver Transportation Co., and other entities owned a large part of downtown Portland, OR with lots spread over 25 different city blocks. The controversial Portland Building designed by post-Modernist Michael Graves occupies the block now, and was completed in 1982, and later the massive copper statue Portlandia was mounted above the main entry on Fifth Ave. in 1985.