Bissinger Wool Pullery

Last updated October 08, 2019

Bissinger Wool Pullery was a wool pullery business in Troutdale, Oregon. Adolph Bissinger, Samuel Bissinger, Louis Bissinger, and Louis Gerstle founded the business in the 1880s. The site has been the subject of contamination cleanup efforts and for prospective waterfront redevelopment.

Troutdale is a city in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, immediately north of Gresham and east of Wood Village. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 15,962. The city serves as the western gateway to the Historic Columbia River Highway, the Mount Hood Scenic Byway, and the Columbia River Gorge. It is approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Portland.

History

The Bissinger Wool Pullery was founded by Adolph Bissinger, Samuel Bissinger, Louis Bissinger, and Louis Gerstle in the 1880s.^[1] The pullery's history in Troutdale can be traced to Samuel Bissinger, a Jewish immigrant from Bavaria who lived in Portland, Oregon.^[2] Bissinger, who arrived in the United States when he was 16 years old, grew into an energetic promoter of the Portland area, joined numerous social groups, and was respected for his ideas and judgment.^[2] He decided to move his family's pullery out of Sellwood, Oregon, into Troutdale to an eight acre parcel located on Macadam Road at the west bank of the Sandy River.^[1]^[2]^[3] It opened for business in 1925.^[2]

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a landlocked federal state of Germany, occupying its southeastern corner. With an area of 70,550.19 square kilometres, Bavaria is the largest German state by land area comprising roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany. With 13 million inhabitants, it is Germany's second-most-populous state after North Rhine-Westphalia. Bavaria's main cities are Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg.

Portland is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Multnomah County. It is a major port in the Willamette Valley region of the Pacific Northwest, at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. As of 2018, Portland had an estimated population of 653,115, making it the 25th most populated city in the United States, and the second-most populous in the Pacific Northwest. Approximately 2.4 million people live in the Portland metropolitan statistical area (MSA), making it the 25th most populous in the United States. Its combined statistical area (CSA) ranks 19th-largest with a population of around 3.2 million. Approximately 60% of Oregon's population resides within the Portland metropolitan area.

By the 1930s, the pullery carried a weekly payroll of roughly $1,700, and it is credited for keeping Troutdale alive during the Great Depression.^[2] The plant thrived and operated for decades.^[2] Eventually, near the beginning of 1970, the owners ceased operation when demand for their product declined as consumers increased their use of synthetic materials and competing with inexpensive imports became difficult.^[2]

In 1972, a businessman named Don Bennett opened a cabinet-making operation at the abandoned facility.^[2] His son later purchased the business and continued production until 1999.^[2] The various activities on the property may have been responsible for generating wastes containing chromium and volatile organic compounds, which were found on the site.^[4] Sometime prior to 2006, Gresham Fire and Emergency Services condemned the building.^[4]

A holding company, Eastwinds Development, which was owned by Junki Yoshida, purchased the land in 2000.^[3] Yoshida anticipated redevelopment of the site with a hotel and resort project.^[3] However, subsequent legal proceedings failed to force Columbia Gorge Outlets to allow road building through their mall. The outlets largely blocked access to the site, and without the road, Eastwinds Development was able to force the city of Troutdale to purchase the site.^[3]

Operations

The pullery facility was a plant that processed dead sheep. The hides were removed from the animals, and the wool and skins were processed for sale. The carcasses were buried on the site.^[5]^[2]

Site cleanup

Before Eastwinds Development could proceed with any proposed development, the site required environmental cleanup due to assorted contamination. The buried sheep carcasses decomposed in a manner which left the remains of an iridescent sludge that caused concern regarding stench.^[6]^[5]^[4] Additionally, test pits revealed worrisome levels of contaminants which included petroleum hydrocarbons, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and phenol. Furthermore, some concerning levels of chlorinated solvents such as chlorobenzenes; 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA); perchloroethylene (PCE); and breakdown products were also detected. While chromium levels were elevated, they did not constitute a concerning level.^[4]

Related Research Articles

Shaniko is a city located in Wasco County, Oregon, United States, on U.S. Route 97 and about 8 miles (13 km) north of Antelope. The population was 36 at the 2010 census.

The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Northwestern United States by volume, and the seventeenth widest in the world. Horseshoe in shape, it is 1,500 feet (460 m) wide and 40 feet (12 m) high with a flow of 30,849 cu ft/s, located 26 miles (42 km) upriver from the Willamette's mouth.

The Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland is a metropolitan area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area used by the United States Census Bureau (USCB) and other entities. The OMB defines the area as comprising Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill Counties in Oregon, and Clark and Skamania Counties in Washington. The area's population is estimated at 2,753,168 in 2017.

The Hawthorne District in Portland, Oregon, is an area of Southeast Portland on SE Hawthorne Blvd. that runs from 12th to 60th Avenues, with the primary core of businesses between 30th and 50th Avenues. The area has numerous retail stores, including clothing shops, restaurants, bars, brewpubs and microbreweries.

Interstate 84 (I-84) is an Interstate Highway in the northwestern United States. The highway runs from Portland, Oregon, to a junction with I-80 near Echo, Utah. The sections running through Oregon and Idaho are also known as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway. The highway originally served as a fork of I-80 to serve the Pacific Northwest, and was originally numbered Interstate 80N.

The Port of Portland is the port district responsible for overseeing Portland International Airport, general aviation, and marine activities in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area in the United States, established in 1891 by the 16th Oregon Legislative Assembly. The current incarnation was created by the 1970 legislature, combining the original Port with the Portland Commission of Public Docks, a city agency dating from 1910.

Portland–Troutdale Airport is a public use airport located 10 nautical miles east of the central business district of Portland, in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. Also known as Troutdale Airport, it is located in Troutdale. It is one of three airports in the Portland metropolitan area owned and operated by the Port of Portland. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a regional general aviation facility.

The View-Master factory supply well in Beaverton, Oregon, was evaluated for public health effects by the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Workers there were potentially exposed to the industrial solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a probable human carcinogen. At the factory, which closed in 2001, it had been estimated by ODHS that up to 25,000 workers may have been exposed to TCE via the factory's drinking water, which was drawn from a well on-site. However, further investigation showed that the actual number of employees who can be identified from employment records for the site is approximately half that number. In addition, the number of employees identified as having worked at the site for more than five years is likely to be less than 1,000. The site is now considered safe.

The following list presents the full set of National Register of Historic Places listings in Multnomah County, Oregon. However, please see separate articles for listings in each of Portland's five quadrants.

Icebreaker is a merino wool outdoor and natural performance outdoor clothing brand headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. It was purchased by VF Corporation, a NYSE listed entity in 2018. Icebreaker was conceived and designed around the philosophy of sustainability, using natural fibres, environmental and social ethics, and animal welfare. The company began by specialising in the creation of merino base layers and now offers underwear, mid layers, outer wear, socks and accessories based on natural fibers. Icebreaker was founded in 1995 by Jeremy Moon, and now supplies its clothing to more than 4,700 stores in 50 countries.

Robert B. Pamplin Jr. American businessman

Robert Boisseau Pamplin Jr. is an American businessman, philanthropist, and minister. He is also noted as an educator, historical preservationist and author.

NW Natural, formerly Northwest Natural Gas Company, is an American publicly traded utility headquartered in Portland, Oregon, United States. Primarily a natural gas distributor, the company services residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Western Oregon and Southwest Washington in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1859, the company has approximately 680,000 customers and revenues of nearly one billion in US dollars annually.

Robert Crouch Kinney was an American businessman and politician in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Illinois, he helped found Muscatine, Iowa, before crossing the Oregon Trail and settling in what became Oregon. In Oregon he was a prominent businessman in the milling business and served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature before being a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention.

Virginia Cafe, sometimes known colloquially as "VC", is a restaurant and bar in Portland, Oregon.

Canal Crossing is a New Urbanism project on the eastern side of Jersey City, New Jersey between Jackson Hill in Greenville/Bergen-Lafayette and Liberty State Park. The approximately 111 acre area, previously designated for industrial and distribution uses has been re-zoned for transit-oriented residential and commercial use and the construction of a neighborhood characterized as a sustainable community. The name is inspired by the Morris Canal, which once traversed the district in a general north and south alignment. The brownfield site must first undergo remediation of toxic waste, much of it left by PPG Industries The redevelopment plans call for 7,000 housing units, mainly "mid-rise" buildings, and a greenway along the former canal, directly south of the 17-acre Berry Lane Park.

Right 2 Dream Too is a homeless encampment in Portland, Oregon incorporated as a nonprofit organization In its beginning, it has setup an unauthorized transient camp on private property in October, 2011 in Old Town Chinatown at Northwest 4th Avenue and West Burnside St near downtown, Portland. It had permission from the property owner, but it was not authorized by the city. The encampment operates under its parent company Right 2 Survive. Its operation erected tents and built a fence without necessary permits and it was assessed fines for doing so. In April 2017, the city agreed to allow its organized transient camp to move to a land owned by the Portland Bureau of Transportation and stay for up to two years. Its camp remained at the original location for over five years before moving to a temporary site in North Portland on N Thunderbird Ave in July 2017.Its lease on this site will expire in April 2019.

The Hoyt Hotel was a 175-room hotel located in Portland, Oregon. Harvey Dick purchased the hotel in 1941. In 1962, he renovated the hotel and added the Barbary Coast Lounge and Roaring 20s Room, a nightclub that attracted celebrities such as Johnny Carson, Duke Ellington, and Anne Francis. Dick closed the hotel in 1972 due to declining business.

The Portland Woolen Mills were a wool textile manufacturer in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. By 1950, they had become the largest wool manufacturer west of Cleveland, Ohio. The origins of the factory started in Sellwood in 1901 but after a fire destroyed the mill two years later owners decided to rebuild in St. Johns. Portland Woolen Mills offered several worker programs including baseball, basketball and bowling teams; a cafeteria and a library.

The Division Transit Project is a future high-capacity bus route in Portland, Oregon, United States, that will be operated by TriMet. The 15-mile (24 km) line will run from the northern end of the Portland Transit Mall in downtown Portland to Cleveland Park and Ride in Gresham via Southeast Division Street. As of April 2019, the project is scheduled to begin construction in late 2019 and is targeted for completion in 2022.

References

1 2 Howard, Dorothy. "Oregon Jewish Businesses, 1840–2012". PSU Library special Collections and University Archives. Portland State University. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sparling, Zane (October 17, 2016). "Pullery Spurred Economic Engine of Troutdale". The Outlook. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
1 2 3 4 Sparling, Zane (July 22, 2017). "Troutdale Waterfront Redevelopment Project Collapses". OPB TV. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
1 2 3 4 "Environmental Cleanup Site Information (ECSI) Database Site Summary Report – Details for Site ID 5224, Troutdale Riverfront Redevelopment Site". Oregon.gov. Department of Environmental Quality. September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
1 2 Tomlinson, Kerry (November 14, 2015). "Get ready for a big stink in Troutdale during sheep goo removal". KATU 2. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
↑ Weisberg, Brent (November 16, 2016). "Removal of Sheep Carcasses to Cause Pungent Smell in Troutdale". KOIN. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

Coordinates: 45°32′31″N122°23′07″W / 45.54194°N 122.38528°W / 45.54194; -122.38528

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[PSU-1] 1 2 Howard, Dorothy. "Oregon Jewish Businesses, 1840–2012". PSU Library special Collections and University Archives. Portland State University. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

[auto3-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sparling, Zane (October 17, 2016). "Pullery Spurred Economic Engine of Troutdale". The Outlook. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

[auto4-3] 1 2 3 4 Sparling, Zane (July 22, 2017). "Troutdale Waterfront Redevelopment Project Collapses". OPB TV. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

[auto-4] 1 2 3 4 "Environmental Cleanup Site Information (ECSI) Database Site Summary Report – Details for Site ID 5224, Troutdale Riverfront Redevelopment Site". Oregon.gov. Department of Environmental Quality. September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

[auto1-5] 1 2 Tomlinson, Kerry (November 14, 2015). "Get ready for a big stink in Troutdale during sheep goo removal". KATU 2. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

[6] Weisberg, Brent (November 16, 2016). "Removal of Sheep Carcasses to Cause Pungent Smell in Troutdale". KOIN. Retrieved September 17, 2019.