Georgiana Burton Pittock facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Georgiana Burton Pittock
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Pittock, circa 1900
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| Born | November 14, 1843 |
| Died | June 12, 1918 (aged 72) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
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| Spouse(s) | Henry Pittock |
Georgiana Burton Pittock (born November 14, 1845 – died June 12, 1918) was an important pioneer and community leader in Portland, Oregon. She is best known for starting the Portland Rose Society in 1888. This group's yearly rose show grew into the famous Portland Rose Festival. Georgiana was also very active in many charities and cultural groups in Portland for many years.
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Early Life and Family
Georgiana Pittock was born in 1845 in Missouri. When she was about nine years old, her family moved to Oregon in 1854. They traveled a long way by wagon on the Oregon Trail. During their journey, young Georgiana got separated from her family for a short time. Local Native Americans found her and kindly returned her to her family.
After reaching Oregon, her family first settled in Milwaukie before moving to Portland in 1857. Georgiana went to school at Portland Academy.
When she was a teenager, Georgiana became engaged to Henry Pittock. Henry worked as a typesetter for a newspaper called The Weekly Oregonian. A typesetter arranges letters for printing. Georgiana and Henry got married in June 1860. Around this time, Henry became the owner of the newspaper.
Between 1861 and 1878, Georgiana and Henry had nine children. Six of their children grew up to be adults. The family built homes on a large piece of land that Henry bought in downtown Portland. They lived in smaller houses before moving into a bigger home in 1864. This home was where the family lived for the next fifty years.
Community Involvement
Starting the Portland Rose Society
Georgiana Pittock loved roses. In 1888, she started the Portland Rose Society. It began as a casual club for people who enjoyed growing roses. Many people consider her the founder of the famous Portland Rose Festival.
Georgiana hosted the first rose competition in her own large garden in Portland. She got the idea after visiting rose gardens and competitions in England. The next year, she turned her backyard rose show into a fundraiser for her church. She set up a judging tent and charged people to come in.
This yearly event grew bigger and bigger. Soon, it included a city parade. Local gardeners would use their roses to decorate horses, floats, and wagons. From these small beginnings, the Portland Rose Festival was born. In 1907, the group officially became the Portland Rose Society. It is the oldest rose society in the United States. They started the tradition of a judged flower competition every year.
Helping Others Through Charities
Georgiana Pittock was very involved in groups that helped women and children. In 1887, she started the Ladies Sewing Society. This group later became the Women's Relief Society. Members would sew baby clothes and sell them to raise money for other charities in Portland.
Georgiana especially loved The Baby Home. This was an orphanage in Portland for babies who had been abandoned. She also supported the Boys and Girls Aid Society, which was a home for children who were abandoned or abused. She helped the Parry Center for Children, which started as a home for children who lost their parents on the Oregon Trail. Georgiana was also active with the Fruit and Flower Daycare Center. This was the first daycare center in Oregon, opening in 1906, and it is still open today.
In 1912, Georgiana joined the Portland Women’s Union. This group worked to support single working women. Georgiana was a board member and later became the fourth president of the organization. She also helped create the Martha Washington Hotel. This hotel was a safe place for single working women to live. By 1911, the hotel was so popular that a new, bigger one had to be built.
Later Years and Pittock Mansion
In 1909, when Georgiana was 64 years old, she and her husband Henry decided to build a new home. They hired an architect named Edward T. Foulkes. He designed a very large, fancy house for them and their family. It was built on their 46-acre property in the West Hills area of Portland.
The house was built high up, about 1,000 feet above sea level. From there, you could see amazing views of Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood. Oregon builders and artists were hired to construct the home. They mostly used materials found in the Pacific Northwest. Building started in 1909 and finished in 1914.
In 1913, Georgiana had a stroke, which left her partly unable to move easily. An elevator was quickly added to the house plans so she could move around the large mansion. Four years later, on June 12, 1918, Georgiana passed away from health problems related to her stroke. Her husband, Henry, died just a few months later in January 1919. They are both buried in River View Cemetery in Portland.
Members of the Pittock family continued to live in the mansion until 1958. In 1962, a big storm badly damaged the house. It was going to be torn down by developers. But in 1964, the City of Portland bought the home. Today, the Pittock Mansion is open to the public. You can visit it and learn about its history.
