Oregon Historic Sites Database

Search Menu

Site Information small logo

Oregon Historic Sites Database

Scanned Document Links

NR Nomination
Inventory Form
NR Nom Boundary Decr

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:2741 NW Vaughn St historic name:Montgomery Ward & Company Building
Portland, Multnomah County current/other names:Montgomery Park
assoc addresses:2701
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:1N 1E 29
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):9.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1920 second date:1936 date indiv listed:06/06/1985
primary orig use: Warehouse orig use comments:
second orig use: COMMERCIAL: General
primary style: Commercial (Type) prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Concrete: Other/Undefined siding comments:
secondary siding:
plan type: architect:Mccaully, W H
builder:
comments/notes:
Boundary Reduction approved on 7/9/2021 (NRIS# BC100006705)
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Portland LGBTQ+ Historic Resources 2025 RLS Survey & Inventory Project 2025
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: 06/06/1985
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 05/22/2025
Special Assessment
Status Term End Yr
Closed 2nd  2032
Closed 1st  2001
Federal Tax Program
Status Start Compl
Unknown 01/01/2022  
106 Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
2701 NW Vaughn Street is a prominent twelve-story reinforced concrete structure completed in 1920 with a north wing added in 1936. The Montgomery Ward & Company Building was originally used as a warehouse and regional headquarters. The building’s grid of industrial steel-sash windows, projecting concrete piers, and flat roof reflect early 20th-century warehouse design. It was repurposed in 1987 as Montgomery Park and now functions as an office building. Recent interventions include a glass atrium addition at the west entrance and a landscaped plaza with contemporary lighting and outdoor seating.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
Montgomery Ward and Company Building, also known as Montgomery Park, began serving as a venue for LGBTQ+ organizations in the mid-1980s. Early events included Right to Privacy / Right to Pride (RTP) Political Action Committee Victory Fund fundraisers, Lesbian Community Project pride events, and La Femme Magnifique International drag pageants. In the early 1990s, political campaigns “No on 9” and “No on 13” acquired free use of the full-height glass-walled atrium to host election night watch parties. These campaigns opposed the conservative organization Oregon Citizens Alliance’s (OCA) repeated anti-LGBTQ+ political initiatives to amend the state constitution to discourage recognition of homosexuality. The 1992 and 1994 watch parties turned into victory parties as both measures ultimately failed. Already individually listed on the National Register under Criteria C and A in the area of Commerce, Montgomery Ward and Company Building is also potentially significant under National Register Criterion A in the area of LGBTQ+ history for its association with LGBTQ+ community development, politics, and entertainment.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:University of Oregon
Historical Society:Oregon Historical Society Other Respository:
Bibliography:
For further information on the events, people, and organizations mentioned in the LGBTQ+ historical narrative, see LGBTQ+ History in Portland, Oregon: A Historic Context Statement. “From the Pittock to the Atrium,” Just Out, May 1, 1988, 14. Randy Blazak, ”Oregon Citizen Alliance,” Oregon Encyclopedia, Last Updated May 25, 2022, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregon_citizens_alliance/. William Schultz, “The Rise and Fall of ‘No Special Rights,’” Oregon History Quarterly 122 no. 1 (Spring 2021): 6-37. Kathy Tucker, “Montgomery Ward/Park Building,” Oregon Encyclopedia, Last Updated June 16, 2022, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/montgomery_ward_park_bldg_/.