Facts about Portland's Historic Mausoleum

Nine Interesting Facts about Portland’s Historic Mausoleum

In Architecture, History, Portland, Stained Glass

There are many surprising and interesting things to learn about The Portland Mausoleum and its rich history. and carefully preserved architecture and elegance. Here are ten we think you should know:

Facts about Portland's Historic Mausoleum
  1. This historic building is the oldest crematory west of the Mississippi, having been established in 1901.
  2. The building consists of 8 floors, 3 elevators, and over 7 miles of indoor corridors.
  3. Most of the stained glass art in the many skylights and windows were designed, constructed and installed by the Povey brothers, A. A. Gerlich, and Louis C. Tiffany.
  4. The Povey brothers are entombed at the Mausoleum.
  5. Most of the marble statuary in the mausoleum was hand-carved from Carrara marble at the Taverlli Studios in Italy, then shipped to Oregon.
  6. The Mausoleum houses one of three exact re-creations of Michelangelo’s famous Pietà. Weighing close to 7,000 lbs, the replica was carved by Taverelli Studios in 1969 using marble from the same Italian quarry where Michelangelo carved the original Pietà in 1499.
  7. Because of its unique construction of steel, granite, and concrete, the Portland Memorial Mausoleum was designated as a bomb shelter during WWII.
  8. Today, there are approximately 95,000 memorials incorporated within the building spread out over 4 acres. It would require approximately 75 acres to accomplish this in a traditional cemetery.

Wilhelm’s Portland Memorial Funeral Home, Mausoleum, and Crematory is located at 6705 SE 14th Avenue in Portland, Oregon.