| Date | Event |
| 1851 | Some of the first Chinese immigrants arrive in Portland on the ship Amazon. There are now six roads leading out of Portland. Early roads were plank roads. First Roman Catholic church begun. |
| January 13, 1851 | Law passed moving capital of Oregon from Oregon City to Salem. |
| January 23, 1851 | Portland incorporated. |
| June 4, 1851 | Willamette Stone established. (see Spiritual Quest sites) |
| May 18, 1851 | First Episcopal service in Portland - Trinity Church. |
| January 1, 1853 | Flood in Williamette valley |
| January 26, 1853 | Taylor Street church in Portland incorporated. |
| 1853 | First Presbyterian church in Portland organized. |
| December 22, 1854 | Multnomah county established. |
| 1854 | First Episcopal church in Oregon organized. |
| August 19, 1854 | First attempt to climb Mt. Hood. Attempt was by Thomas Dyer (Oregonian publisher). |
| 1855 | Most Indians in western Oregon relocated to reservation. |
| January 11, 1855 | First marriage in Multnomah County. |
| December 31, 1855 | State capital destroyed by fire. |
| 1856 | Series of wars between settlers and Indians (inititated with discover of Rogue River gold) in southern Oregon ends with Chief John's surrender. |
| 1857 | St. Helens erupts. |
| 1858 | Portland population at 1750. |
| 1859 | Methodist leading denomination in state, with 38 churches staffed by ministers and 57 circuit riders. |
| January 14, 1859 | Oregon admitted as 33rd state. |
| 1860 | Introduction of political corruption. Introduction of blatant vice in north end. |
| 1860 | Portland population at 2874. |
| April 18, 1859 | Portland's first daily newspaper published - Portland Daily News. |
| 1861 - 1865 | Civil War |
| May 5, 1861 | First Baptist Church lays cornerstone on Alder. |
| 1862 | Flood. Wharfs and property damage. First Baptist church building, organized. |
| 1864-1874 | Indian Modoc war in southern Oregon. |
| 1867 | Evanglical Lutherans organize in Portland. |
| October 31, 1870 | East Portland incorporated. |
| 1871 | Flood |
| November 14, 1872 | Earthquake in Pacific NW. |
| December 22, 1872 | First major fire. Destroys 5 brick and 15 wooden buildings. |
| August 2, 1873 | Second major fire. Fire destroys 22 blocks of business district. |
| 1874 | Commission for Indian Affairs named. |
| 1875 | (National: Mary Baker Eddy founds Church of Christ, Scientist.) |
| 1878 | Portland rebuilt. |
| 1880 | Indians in Oregon virtually exterminated as a people group. |
| 1883 | Northern Pacific Railroad completes transcontinental railroad line. |
| 1887 | Dawes Act permits assimilation of some of the Indians in the United States. Southern Pacific finishes railroad to connect with transcontinential. This stimulated agricultural production.April 12, 1887 Morrison Street bridge opened. This was the first bridge across Williamette River in Portland. |
| 1889 | First transmission of electrical power over a long distance in the country: from Oregon City to Portland. African Americans organize a church: Bethel Parish, African Methodist Episcopal Church. |
| June 1, 1891 | East Portland consoladated with City of Portland. |
| 1892 | Monastery and college at Mt. Angel destroyed by fire. |
| October 30, 1893 | Holiness movement (Church of God) begins in Oregon at Woodburn. |
| May 27, 1894 | Great flood, forcing business district to move west. |
| 1894-1913 | Area vacant. |
| January, 1895 | First Bull Run water in Portland. Portland now gets its drinking water from the melting glaciers on Mt. Hood. |
| 1897 | Greens move to Portland to plant seeds of Holiness movement (Church of God) in city. |
| November 7, 1899 | First automobile in Oregon. |
