Portland Business College

Founded in 1866 by A. P. Armstrong, the Portland Business College served as notable business training institution in the Pacific Northwest throughout the turn of the 20th century. With a penmanship department headed by J. A. Wesco, the Portland Business College was well known for for its excellent flourishing, lettering, card writing, pen drawing and all kinds of ornamental work.

“The Portland Business College has been in successful operation since 1866. It now has hundreds of former students in business for themselves, and at work for others, in Portland and throughout the Pacific Northwest. With a greater number of applications for bookkeepers and stenographers than can be met, and as perfect an organization and equipment as that of any other business college in America, it offers special advantages to young and middle-aged men and women who desire to fit themselves for successful business careers. It is an ideal school, located in the commercial center of a large and growing section, and is known at home and abroad as a first-class institution in all respects.”

— Catalog of the Portland Business College, 1905