Arlington Club
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Arlington Club
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The Arlington Club in 2010.
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| Location | 811 SW Salmon Street Portland, Oregon |
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| Coordinates | 45°31′04″N 122°40′55″W / 45.517889°N 122.681833°WCoordinates: 45°31′04″N 122°40′55″W / 45.517889°N 122.681833°W |
| Built | 1909 |
| Architect | Whidden & Lewis |
| Architectural style | Georgian Revival |
| MPS | Historic Resources in Downtown Portland, Oregon, MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 10000599 |
| Added to NRHP | August 30, 2010 |
The Arlington Club is a private social club organized in 1867 by 35 business and banking leaders of Portland in the US state of Oregon. First called the Social Club and later renamed the Arlington Club, it offered its all-male members, most of whom were relatively wealthy and powerful, an exclusive place to socialize and discuss their interests.
During its first century, a total of more than 3,300 men were club members at one time or another. Many, in addition to pursuing their livelihoods, were officers in civic, cultural, philanthropic, or social organizations, and some held government posts at the local, state, or federal levels.
For about 100 years, the club excluded Jews and minorities regardless of other criteria, and for 123 years it excluded women. In response to public pressure, it broadened the membership criteria for men by the late 1960s and for women in 1990. As of 2016[update], the Arlington Club continues to gather at its building in downtown Portland.
In 1867, Simeon Reed and 34 other Portland men organized what they called the Social Club to "fraternize for mutual enjoyment and relaxation, and to provide a meeting place for discussing their own and Portland's destiny". The club, "the social headquarters of Portland's male elite" was dominated through the late 20th century by largely white, mostly Anglo-Saxon men from the city's business and banking leadership. Among the founders were John C. Ainsworth (Ainsworth National Bank), Henry Failing (merchandising, shipping, iron and steel, First National Bank), William S. Ladd (merchandising, transportation, flour milling, Ladd & Tilton Bank), Donald Macleay (merchandising, shipping, United States National Bank), George Weidler (steamships, real estate, lumber), and many others who made a lasting impact on the city.
Paul G. Merriam describes the city's early social elite, including the members of the Social Club, as "primarily businessmen and their close associates, such as lawyers and editors". The social elite were heads of families who "held property valued at $50,000 or more, and who were officers in one or more civic, cultural, philanthropic, or social organizations." Merriam counts 38 such men in Portland in 1870, 31 of whom at one time or another held local government office and several of whom held state and federal offices. Most were nominal Republicans; some were Democrats, but they crossed party lines depending on issues and personalities.
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