William W. Chapman - Later Years

Later Years

Upon returning to Portland he built a home at 12th and Jefferson streets in what is now Downtown Portland. Chapman then returned to the practice of law. He also worked to secure Portland’s economic future by promoting the construction of the railroad line to California to link with the transcontinental rail line. From 1870 to 1876 he started three companies with the goal of creating a railroad connecting Portland to the Union Pacific’s transcontinental railroad. Chapman’s proposed line would have traveled through the Columbia River Gorge to The Dalles, Oregon, where it would then travel southeast to Salt Lake City, Utah, linking to the Union Pacific line.

In 1868, he returned to the legislature, representing Multnomah County in the Oregon House of Representatives as a Democrat. While in the legislature, he worked to get a $30,000 government subsidy to purchase and operate a large steam tugboat at the mouth of the Columbia River. This vessel was used to pilot ships across the Columbia Bar and thus improved maritime commerce for Portland. In 1870, he sold two blocks of land in downtown to the City of Portland, which would become the Plaza Blocks between Third and Fourth avenues at Main Street.

William Williams Chapman died in Portland on October 18, 1892, at the age of 84, and was buried at Lone Fir Cemetery in that city. Chapman School in Portland was named in his honor.

Chapman Square, part of the Plaza Blocks parks with Lownsdale Square, is also named in his honor. Chapman and Lownsdale Squares, also called the Plaza Blocks, were purchased from Chapman for $1200. Lownsdale Square contains the Spanish-American War Memorial, erected after Harvey Scott wrote an editorial pleading for a monument to the war on June 18, 1899. The monument includes the statue of a soldier dressed for the Spanish-American War sculpted by Douglas Tilden. While the granite base is inscribed with Roman numerals indicating 1904, the base was not received until October 1905, and the monument was not dedicated until May 30, 1906, Memorial Day. The final cost of the monument was $14,722, paid for by donations following Scott's plea. The monument also contains two howitzers, donated by Henry E. Dosch, which he found buried in the beach near Fort Sumter. Dosch noted the howitzers had been used by both sides in the American Civil War. There is also a drinking fountain in the square, donated to the city by the Ladies Auxiliary of Company H (of the Second Oregon Volunteer Regiment). The fountain was a design of John H. Beaver, dedicated on September 2, 1914.