If you live in the Portland area and don’t know about Vanport, you should. Once the second largest — and most diverse — city in Oregon and the nation’s largest wartime housing development, Vanport only existed about six years, less than 100 years ago. It was destroyed by a flood and never rebuilt. Now, a little bit of tech is being used to tell the stories of that community through the voices of the people who lived there.
Our Vanport history audioboxes have been installed in Portland! These solar-powered freestanding audio exhibits provide information and stories about Vanport in the voices of its original residents, featuring clips from new and archival interviews.
Listen to our audioboxes in downtown Portland outside Lincoln Hall (PSU campus) and at Force Lake (NE Portland, at the historic location of Vanport). These audioboxes are wheelchair accessible and accessible to those who are blind or have low vision, with Braille labels and adjustable volume control.
Don’t have time to make it to a box location? You can also access the Vanport audio stories online.
For more on the boxes, visit PDX Today.
