Following the end of World War II in 1948 Oregon's second largest city, Vanport, was destroyed by a catastrophic flood. Vanport was created as temporary housing to support the influx of wartime shipyard workers, managed begrudgingly by HAP. The lack of safety measures and evacuation during the flood was a direct result of HAP’s animosity towards Vanport and it’s plans to convert the space into residential area, shown from it’s creation against HAP’s wishes, the poor treatment of residents during HAP’s management, plans to demolish, and it’s final acts of failing to provide support and warning to those affected by the flood
During World War II shipyards in Portland and surrounding areas required a significant amount of workers to produce the ships needed for war. This created an influx of workers and their families in need of housing, housing that Portland simply did not have.1 Earlier, Portland authorities had rejected federal housing for fear of lowering property values.2 Thus, the Portland Housing Authority (HAP) was created to manage public housing.3 While from the outside HAP seemed an apt solution to the housing crisis, the motives behind HAP truly had less to do with providing housing to war-time workers, and more with providing a buffer in an attempt to “prevent direct action by federal carpetbaggers.”4 HAP authorized the building of only 5,000 homes for wartime workers, in a situation where almost 32,000 were needed.5 Not only was the proposed housing insufficient, HAP was also dragging its feet, causing a certain Henry Kaiser of Kaiser shipbuilding to become frustrated.6 Kaiser purchased 620 acres of land to build housing on, and got certifications directly from the state, without consulting HAP at all.7 HAP officials were upset about the lack of communication along the process, with head officials “grumbling” among themselves.8 In the end, HAP eventually, albeit begrudgingly, took control of the Vanport housing project.9 With the intervention of Kaiser, what HAP feared most, had come true. This set-up a long road of animosity on the part of HAP towards the city of Vanport and its residents.
With construction complete and a housing project full of residents HAP’s animosity towards Vanport continued. Residents stated that they experienced rude treatment, unnecessarily strict regulations, excessive fees and late rent charges, as wells as slow repair services. HAP was also suspected of lying about vacancies, concealing open projects that could have housed more families.10 This “shady” behavior continued from the creation to the end, particularly apparent as the War completed. After the war ended, many of the residents left, as the war-time supply of work reduced. In fact, 1945 saw the Vanport population reduced from 40,000 at the height of war to around 18,500 at the time of the flood.11 The remaining residents were composed of mostly unemployed laborers, war veterans, and African Americans.12 This gave Vanport a reputation among portlanders and HAP as an eyesore, crime-ridden, and not worth keeping. An article of 1947 stated “To many Oregonians, Vanport has been undesirable because it is supposed to have a large colored population,”13 Regardless of the claims having no truth in them, these rumors became a commonly held opinion among HAP authorities and Portland residents, which only served to further HAP’s ambitions to put an end to Vanport. The housing authority continuously held that the war-workers should vacate the project with the war over, keeping to their stance at Vanport’s inception that the project was temporary, and not to be kept or made permanent.15 In fact, HAP authorities stated that the projects would best be converted to industrial sites and began plans to demolish Vanport, despite 20,000 people still calling the city home.16
HAP had already began formal plans to demolish Vanport in 1945, three years prior to the flood, with the end goal in industrial development.17 With the idea that residents would disperse and clear out with the war ended dashed, HAP found the need to take matters into their own hands to rid themselves of Vanport housing project. Vanport had a poor reputation and was seen as “blighted”, HAP intentions to tear it down were as much for profit as prevention of the blight of Vanport spreading elsewhere.18 Unfortunately for HAP, plans to convert Vanport into and industrial space were halted due to a lack of housing elsewhere to support the remaining residents in Vanport. “The consensus of opinion seems to be, however, that as long as over 20,000 people can find no other place to go, Vanport will continue to operate whether Portland likes it or not, It is almost a physical impossibility to throw 20,000 people out on the street.”( (1947 Sunday Journal article) Despite being “encouraged to find housing outside of Vanport” residents remained.19 With their plans thwarted, HAP had no choice but to live with the eyesore that was Vanport, and wait.
The wait proved to be a short one when the flood of 1948 wiped the city of Vanport off of the map. Built within flood lines of Columbia River, the risk was ever present. Dikes were all that protected the town, and there was a change in projections for the annual spring flood due to a higher snowpack and recent rain showers.20 With this knowledge, HAP authorities continued to insist the town would be safe, even releasing this message on the morning of the catastrophic flood:
DIKES ARE SAFE AT PRESENT.
YOU WILL BE WARNED IF NECESSARY.
YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO LEAVE.
DON'T GET EXCITED21
Areas surrounding Vanport began to be evacuated, yet the city most at risk was left in the security of leaking dikes. Dikes were checked periodically by engineers and fireman, yet HAP authorities did nothing with these reports but ignore them.22
The residents themselves could see the rising waters, and felt as though they were not being told the truth.23 with never before seen weather and snowpack conditions HAP and others could not have been certain of Vanport’s safety.24 The makeup of Vanport and HAPS hidden ambitions led them to carelessness. Being within flood lines leads to an constant risk of flooding, yet seemingly no procedures were in place in event of this happening, another oversight by HAP. Flooding would force residents to leave. Scatter, head home, either way HAP would get what it wanted, an empty Vanport. Legal means of emptying VAnport had led HAP nowhere. To HAP, Vanport was expendable, a blight, as were it’s residents.25 In the end, HAP got its wish. Vanport was no more.
To ensure the safety of residents more should and could have been done, yet HAP had already proven it did not care for the residents. The were a nuisance, overstaying their welcome in land that could have been used in other ways. To HAP, the flood was simply doing what they had been unable to. HAP had no intentions of caring for Vanport, be it a flood or anything else. Exerting any more effort to ensure residents safely in event of a flood was not a concern to them, as Vanport was viewed by HAP as unimportant, created in spite of there wishes and a continuous nuisance. Attempts at demolishing it failed. Had the town been of “higher class” measures would have been taken to ensure the safety and comfort of residents, but HAP simply did not care. Their views were established from the moment Vanport was created in spite of their wishes, when Kaiser usurped them, the way in which they treated the residents, and in there final action of failing to issue a proper warning to those who lived there.