Changing Economies: Kenton Machine Works

Some businesses, such as oil and steel refineries, food processing plants, and service-based enterprises remained viable in north Portland, even with the City Canal's closure. In 1959, the Oregon Centennial Convention was held on the Slough. It was a "mini-World's Fair" -- international booths displayed goods, outdoor activities took place where the Portland International Raceway now stands, and Interstate Avenue through Kenton provided the main thoroughfare. Victor Nelson, whose father founded one of the few remaining small businesses in Kenton, the Kenton Machine Works, explains how the community participated:

It was a very active street. The Kenton businessmen decided that they wanted to have some show of effort, so they built [the] Paul Bunyan statue thatˆ¢s out in front here. Paul Bunyan was designed by my dad, and we built it here in Kenton Machine Works shop. And we had a lot of volunteer workers, the iron workers and the welders and so forth, and they bent all the iron and then we hauled it out and stuck it up, and the plastererˆ¢s union apprentices plastered it for us. . . We had a six months permit. The state owned the little piece of property there. After the Centennial closed down, why the state came to us and said, weˆ¢d like to keep it up a little longer, weˆ¢re going to make it an information booth for tourists. . . then after they built I-5, they moved the information booth down to Jantzen Beach. Victor Nelson, former Kenton resident and owner of Kenton Machine Works


Kenton Machine Works at the corner of Interstate and Denver Avenues, circa 1950s.
Courtesy of the Kenton Neighborhood Association

In 1964 the construction of Interstate 5 changed regional transportation patterns and initiated further change in Slough communities as travelers by-passed north Portland. Some companies remained, such as Kenton Machine Works (KMW) and Malarkey Roofing. As Victor Nelson explained, KMW cared for the machinery at the mills and slaughterhouses for 25-30 years. When those businesses moved away, the company had to adapt, or fail. Victor and his father began supplying other slough communities and expanded outside the local area. Since the 1980s most of KMW's customers reside east of the Mississippi. In the 1990s, KMW became employee-owned. Victor Nelson, who continues to work on product sales and development, explains the transition into national markets:

We have not done any work locally here, except for a few of the old customers that know about us . . . The company that I sold to the employees is concentrating on the corrugated box industry, a special line of equipment . . . [Before] we did repair work, we built machinery, so we did everything, welding and machinery building and that type of thing. But now today, you have to specialize, you have to find a niche that you can serve. . .a lot of our competitors are no longer in business. The machine shops are like a dying breed. . .Victor Nelson


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