THE VOLGA GERMANS IN PORTLAND
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Community > Businesses

Businesses

The Volga Germans were accustomed to hard work and readily adapted from farming, blacksmithing and other occupations practiced in rural Russia to their new environment in the city. Many of the immigrants that settled in the Portland area worked for private employers such as the railroads and furniture factories. Some established their own businesses and became successful entrepreneurs working as garbage collectors, grocers, freight haulers, manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and saloon keepers.
Ludwig Miller and family
The Ludwig Miller family portrait in front of the L. Miller Dry Goods & Notions store circa 1908. Back row from left to right: Katherine, Christina and Elizabeth. Front row from left to right: Anna Maria, Mary, Henry and Ludwig. Photograph courtesy of Shanna Minarik.
In her unpublished manuscript titled My Mother's People, Emma Schwabenland Haynes wrote:
"Although all of my Portland relatives had to begin working at an early age, I have never heard any of them complain about their childhood years. On the contrary they looked back at the 1890's with almost a feeling of nostalgia, and they often talked about the good times that they had."

BUSINESS CATEGORIES

  • Bakeries
  • Garbage Haulers
  • Grocery and Meat Markets
  • Professional Services
  • ​Restaurants
  • Retailers and Services
  • Suppliers and Manufacturers
  • Saloons and Taverns
Last updated February 21, 2018.
Copyright © 1998-2023 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
    • About This Website
    • Reviews
  • History
    • Historical Timeline
    • Migration to Russia
    • Emigration from Russia
    • Settlement in America
    • Migration to Portland
    • Little Russia
    • A Short History of Albina
    • World War I
    • The Volga Relief Society >
      • Portland Volga Relief Society Subscribers 1921
    • World War II
    • Assimilation and Dispersion
  • Beliefs
    • Churches >
      • Albina Seventh-day Adventist Church
      • First United Mennonite Baptist Church
      • Ebenezer German Congregational Church
      • Free Evangelical Brethren Church >
        • German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church
      • Second German Baptist Church
      • St. Pauls Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • Second German Congregational Church >
        • Evangelical Congregational Church
      • Zion German Congregational Church >
        • Rivercrest Community Church
    • Pastors
    • The Brethren
    • Denominations >
      • German Reformed Church
      • German Evangelical Synod of North America
      • Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • German Congregational Church
      • Seventh-day Adventists
      • United Church of Christ
  • People
    • Our People
    • Notables
    • Pioneers 1881-1892
    • Stories
    • Photographs
    • Help Identify These People
  • Community
    • Characteristics
    • Businesses >
      • Bakeries Retailers and Services
      • Garbage Haulers
      • Grocery and Meat Markets
      • Restaurants >
        • Helsers on Alberta
        • McCormick & Schmicks
        • Wildwood
      • Saloons and Taverns
      • Suppliers and Manufacturers
    • Employers
    • Education
    • Sports
    • Maps
    • Documentary
  • Traditions
    • Foods
    • Folk Medicine
    • Expressions
    • Weddings
    • Holidays
    • Folk Music
    • Funerals and Burial Sites
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Books and Video
    • Works Cited