![]() The north entrance is now for emergency use only, since it opens directly onto Marine Drive, a busy multi-lane road." The front column facade at the original entrance on the north side of the pavilion has been removed. The assembly center site, now the Portland Exposition Center, is in nearly continuous use with trade shows, exhibits, and other events. The North Portland Harbor, a branch of the Columbia River, is just north of the assembly center. Outlying buildings included a hospital, a laundry, other support facilities, and the military police compound. Over 3,800 evacuees were housed under one roof in the pavilion, which was subdivided into apartments, a kitchen, and dining hall. A total of 4,290 people from northeast Oregon and central Washington were interned there between May 2 and September 10, 1942. "The Portland Assembly Center was centered around the 11-acre Pacific International Livestock Exposition Pavilion. Because the family cubicles had no ceilings, nighttime noises were easily overheard and disturbing-people crying, giggling, snoring and muffled talking. The cubicles had no interior walls to provide separation for privacy. Each family cubicle was provided army cots and canvas bags to be stuffed with straw to form mattresses. Eight foot plywood walls formed living cubicles measuring about 10' x 15' with no ceilings and a canvas flap to cover the open doorway. It was first covered by wood planks for flooring, but the flooring did not diminish the smell of livestock manure. Living quarters for the assembly center detainees were built over this ground. It had housed livestock in corrals where animal manure was mixed into the dirt. It provided eleven acres of space under one roof. "The Portland Assembly Center was formerly the Pacific International Livestock and Exposition Center, located in North Portland on North Swift Boulevard overlooking the Columbia River, slightly west of the Interstate Bridge which connected Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, Washington. The Expo Center was known as the "Portland Assembly Center" and served as a staging center for the internees' relocation to Hunt, Idaho facilities." "PI buildings were used as a detention center for 3500 Japanese Americans during five months of 1942. Stockyards Commerce Center sign, Portland, Oregon. The PI or Expo Center, as it was also called, provided the facilities for grading of breeds to strict standards, awarding of prizes, conducting auctions, and sponsorship of first-class rodeos." They were burned in their entirety in 1925, but were quickly rebuilt. The original exhibition buildings were erected in 1921-1922 at the Delta Park area site. It started in 1910 as a beef cattle show to promote the business of the North Portland Stockyards and by 1918 had incorporated as a livestock exhibition. "The Pacific International Livestock Exposition (PI) was one of five major livestock shows in the United States. ġ918-1965, Pacific International Livestock Exposition. ![]()
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