Last Updated on June 28, 2026
Fun Fact #70 Random Wholesome Timeline of Halloween Firsts in Portland (area)
Halloween postcards were first introduced in the late 1800s. they are rare and if in excellent condition can be worth thousands of dollars. Vintage postcards often depicted images of witches, black cats, pumpkins, and other Halloween-themed motifs. We explore the Oregon Journal and The Oregonian’s “first” coverage of Pumpkin Patches, Haunted Houses and Corn Mazes to create this timeline.
1902 Bishop Scott Military Academy’s First Halloween Party
I was not able to find an image from the Halloween Party these are early images courtesy Norman Gholston of students in their uniforms. Founded by Episcopal Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris in 1870, the school was named in honor of Thomas Fielding Scott, the first Episcopal Missionary Bishop of Oregon and Washington.
1906 First Haunted House Sale Listing in Portland (Value $12,000 lists at $700)
Headline: CROWD SEEKS TO PURCHASE THIS HAUNTED HOUSE
Owner willing to pay a man and wife $10 a night to sleep in the house until it’s sold. He did not get along with his supernatural guests, who made themselves felt when his last child moved out of the home. Despite the undead disclosure there was a line of perspective buyers willing to pay above asking for the 9 rooms and good yard. Oregon Journal, August 20, 1906 p1.
1915 Confiscated Pumpkins Used to make Prisoners Pumpkin Pie
1926 First time “Pumpkin Patch” was a above the fold in the Oregon Journal
Halloween,” the time of witches, ghosts, black cats and owls, who join together in making that day one of merriment. Carolyn Bowers, prominent Journal Junior, dons the role of a fair farmerette and trods the lanes of a pumpkin patch in quest of two fated pumpkins- OJ Oct. 31, 1926, p1
1961 Largest FREE Pumpkin Patch in PortlanD
Lloyd Center Mall the Pumpkin Patch in the Center of the City
Sauvie Island is to Halloween in Oregon what the North Pole is to Christmas. The wholesome Halloween marketing in Portland advertisements started in the 1950s. In 1961 the largest pumpkin patch in Portland was at Lloyd Center Mall, 4 tons of pumpkins were given away free. The pumpkins were grown locally at Ralph Bonaduce’s farm on NE 33rdDrive. Halloween postcards were first introduced in the late 1800s. they are rare and if in excellent condition can be worth thousands of dollars. Vintage postcards often depicted images of witches, black cats, pumpkins, and other Halloween-themed motifs. We explore the Oregon Journal and The Oregonian’s “first coverage of Pumpkin Patches, Haunted Houses and Corn Mazes.
Sauvie Island is to Halloween in Oregon what the North Pole is to Christmas. The wholesome Halloween marketing in Portland advertisements started in the 1950s.
1961 First Celebration of the 1959 Appearance of the Great Pumpkin. Linus explains: “There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”
1994 First Oregon Corn Maze
The first full-size corn maze is believed to have been created in Annville, Pennsylvania in 1993, so Oregon was not far behind. Corn mazes are popular tourist attractions, and are a way for farms to generate tourist income.