Frank Dekum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 5, 1829 Deiderfeld, Rheinfalz, Germany |
| Died | October 19, 1894 (aged 64) Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Resting place | Lone Fir Cemetery 45°31′05″N 122°38′31″W / 45.51806°N 122.64194°W[1] |
| Education | "one winter in a log schoolhouse"[2] |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant, investor, builder, and banker |
| Spouse(s) | Fanny Reinig, Phoebe M. Humason |
| Children | 8 - Edward (b1860), Lizzie (b1861), Otto (b1863), Adolph (b1866), George (b1867), Rosina (b1870), Clara (b1872), Frank (b1877) |
Frank Dekum (November 5, 1829 – October 19, 1894) was a prominent 19th century fruit merchant, banker, and real-estate investor in Portland, Oregon. Born in Germany, Dekum emigrated to the north-central U.S. with his family and as a young man went west in search of gold before starting a successful fresh-fruit business in Portland. Prospering as a merchant, Dekum invested in real-estate, banking, and an early railroad, was a president or board member of many of the city's companies, and was one of 15 men named to Portland's first municipal water committee.
Dekum involved himself in many building projects in downtown Portland. One of his structures, the Dekum Building, which served as headquarters for the city's government in the 1890s, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The Portland and Vancouver Railway, financed partly by Dekum, ran along the east side of the Willamette River from East Portland to the Columbia River. Dekum Street in northeast Portland is named after him. Dekum was the president of the German Song Bird Society, which imported to Oregon many German songbirds. After suffering great financial loss during the Panic of 1893, he died in 1894.
- ^ "Lone Fir Cemetery". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
- ^ Scott 1890, pp. 545–47.