History · Portola · established 1946

Portola’s history is mostly unwritten

The public archives hold only 2 old photos of Portola. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1946established

2old photos & papers

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Portola’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Portola’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Portola’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Portola’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewNeat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story so far

Portola, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Portola yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Portola ( por-TOH-lə) is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,100 at the 2020 census, down from 2,104 at the 2010 census. Portola is located on the Middle Fork of the Feather River and was named after Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá, although he did not explore this area. Portola is a crew change site on the Western Pacific Railroad (now Union Pacific Railroad) Feather River Route over the Sierra Nevada. The city is also home to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum (formerly Portola Railroad Museum), one of the largest railroad museums in the Western United States. The museum is famous for its Run A Locomotive program, where the publ…

Portola was established in 1946. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,104 in 2010, 2,100 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Portola, 1944 to 1983

Woven from the archive, the National Register and the people born here.

20th century
1944Born hereG. Louis Heath is born here
1946
FoundingPortola is established
1946Born hereRichard Poe is born here
1983In the archiveNeat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos

By decade

Portola, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s2 items

1983Neat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos

1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

Today4 recent

2016A Strange Steam Engine in Portola - 2 Photos

2016A Chase in Feather River Canyon

20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBook

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewNeat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos, 1983

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Portola’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Portola

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Richard PoeAmerican actor · b. 1946

G. Louis HeathUnited States academic · b. 1944

Stories next door

History across the town line

DellekerIts story Iron HorseIts story Lake DavisIts story

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Weigh in

Has Portola changed for the better?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Start a conversation

From Wikimedia Commons (6) and Wikidata for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.