To spot the Arlington Club, look for a stately four-story brick building with white trim and a row of classic square windows on each floor, standing proudly on the corner with an American flag flying atop its flat roof.
Welcome to the Arlington Club, Portland’s answer to the classic gentlemen’s club-minus the Sherlock Holmes pipe, but full of fascinating history and maybe even a little intrigue. If you close your eyes for just a second and take in the sounds of the city--you might just feel the echoes of powerful whispers and laughter that once filled these very streets.
The Arlington Club started way back in 1867. Picture this: a handful of well-to-do businessmen-hoping for a little R&R after plotting the future of Portland-decided they needed a place to fraternize, kick back, and, let’s be honest, probably complain about taxes. They called it the Social Club at first, and the idea caught on faster than the latest TikTok dance, with the city’s movers and shakers all wanting in on the action. Founders like Simeon Reed, John C. Ainsworth, and William S. Ladd were the type of folks who owned banks, steamships, and enough real estate to get any Monopoly player drooling.
These club members were local, state, and even federal VIPs. The kind of people who would debate the fate of Portland’s business deals over a plate of roast beef-while wearing surprisingly uncomfortable shoes. Historian E. Kimbark MacColl once pointed out that the club’s members could hardly tell where their own interests ended and the city’s began: if it was good for them, it was good for Portland, or so they thought!
Now, the Arlington Club wasn’t always as welcoming as the smell of fresh coffee in the morning. For 100 years, they kept the door closed to Jews and other minorities, no matter how important or dazzling their business cards were. And women? Well, for a whopping 123 years, the only way a lady could get inside was to deliver a package. It took until 1990-after some serious public pressure and a city council resolution hot enough to melt an ice cube-that the club finally opened its doors to women with a vote that just barely hit the supermajority needed. After that, restrooms and lounges magically appeared, making way for a whole new crowd.
But back to this very spot-you’re standing outside the third and most impressive clubhouse. The first meetings happened in hotels and random dining rooms, but as the club grew, so did their real estate ambitions. They finally settled into this grand brick-and-terra cotta building in 1910. Built by architects Whidden and Lewis, it’s a four-story showstopper in neo-classical style, standing just across from the lovely South Park Blocks. If you happened to walk inside, you’d see echoes of Portland’s history in every plush armchair and ornate cornice.
Portland’s social scene started to branch out in the late 1800s, with clubs like the Multnomah Athletic Club, the Waverly Golf Club, and the University Club springing up. But for many years, memberships overlapped-a sort of Venn diagram where everyone wore top hats and argued over who had the better mustache.
As the decades rolled on, the Arlington Club’s guestbook filled with names that would get any historian’s heart racing: U.S. Presidents like Taft, Hayes, and Grant strolled these halls, along with luminaries from the arts, sciences, and military. Someone was always making a toast-sometimes even to progress!
Of course, the club faced rocky times, including scandals like their president’s very public resignation in 2015. But perhaps the greatest tension lay in how slowly progress moved-one tiny step at a time. Today, while the Arlington Club still gathers here, it’s a sharper, more inclusive crowd. The walls are still echoing with conversations about Portland’s next big leap-just with a bigger guest list and, hopefully, better snacks.
So as you look up at this dignified brick façade, imagine the layers of history inside-a place where fortunes were made, secrets whispered, and eventually, doors finally flung open for all of Portland’s future leaders. Onward to the next stop!
