text: frank dekum frank dekum ( november 5 , 1829 – october 19 , 1894 ) was a prominent 19th century fruit merchant , banker , and real - estate investor in portland , oregon . born in germany , dekum emigrated to the north - central u.s. with his family and as a young man went west in search of gold before starting a successful fresh - fruit business in portland . prospering as a merchant , dekum invested in real - estate , banking , and an early railroad , was a president or board member of many of the city 's companies , and was one of 15 men named to portland 's first municipal water committee . dekum involved himself in many building projects in downtown portland . one of his structures , the dekum building , which served as headquarters for the city 's government in the 1890s , was listed on the national register of historic places in 1980 . the portland and vancouver railway , financed partly by dekum , ran along the east side of the willamette river from east portland to the columbia river . dekum street in northeast portland is named after him . married to fanny , dekum fathered eight children . he was the president of the german song bird society , which imported to oregon many german songbirds . after suffering great financial loss during the panic of 1893 , he died in 1894 . early life dekum was born in , , germany , on november 5 , 1829 . he and his brother and four sisters emigrated to the united states to settle on a farm near belleville , illinois . the family later moved to st. louis , missouri , where both parents died . after serving as an apprentice confectioner in st. louis , dekum and a friend , frederick bickel , went gold prospecting in california and idaho before settling in portland . from fruit to real estate in 1853 , the two men established a fruit and confectionery store , dekum & bickel , which prospered for the next quarter - century in downtown portland . wealth from the " largest wholesale fresh - fruit business in the northwest " , dekum joined " the frenzied real - estate speculations of the early 1860s " , and his large holdings included several buildings that bore his name . in 1875 , he and simeon reed financed the city 's most expensive building of the time ; it was known as the dekum and reed block . portland historian joseph gaston wrote , " it is an interesting and noteworthy fact that he was connected with the construction of every building in whole or in part between first and third on washington street ... " . these projects included the first large brick building on front street , the and commercial blocks , the waldo building , and in 1892 the dekum building . the latter , at the southwest corner of southwest third avenue and washington street , is eight stories high , was built entirely of oregon materials , and cost $ 300 , 000 in 1892 dollars . the first three stories of the romanesque structure are of rough - cut sandstone ; the top five floors are of red brick and unglazed terracotta with floral designs . decorative machicolations ( openings of the sort used in earlier eras for pouring pitch and dropping rocks on attackers ) appear in the parapet at the top of the building . for eight years starting in 1893 portland 's government was headquartered in this structure , temporarily dubbed the council building . the exterior was renovated in 1987 , and the interior opened to the nearby hamilton building in the 1990s . the dekum building was added to the national register of historic places in 1980 and is part of the skidmore / old town historic district . banks , companies in 1880 dekum helped establish the portland savings bank , of which he was named president in 1886 , succeeding david p. thompson . he helped organize the commercial national bank of portland and served as its president . ( the two banks occupied the same building and had overlapping directors , including john , george h. williams , and cyrus a. dolph , as well as dekum and thompson . ) he was at various times president of columbia investment company , oregon land and investment company , columbia fire and marine insurance company , portland and vancouver railway company , trinidad asphalt & paving company , and the portland exposition company . in 1885 , dekum was one of 15 men named to the portland water committee , empowered by the oregon legislative assembly to acquire and operate a municipal water system for the city . portland and vancouver railway in 1888 dekum , richard l. durham , and john b. david built a narrow gauge railway , the portland and vancouver railway , that began in what was then the separate city of east portland and went north through the then - separate city of albina on the way to the columbia river . the south end of the steam railway was at the east end of the stark street ferry between portland and east portland on the willamette river . the north end of the line was at a landing on the columbia that served ferries traveling between oregon and vancouver , washington . dekum and durham , through their oregon land and development company , invested in developing the woodlawn district , which was near the railroad in albina . most of the railway route ran initially through " virgin timber and scattered clearings " , especially north of albina , where " the country was quite primitive until the broad bottomlands of the columbia were reached . " because the land near the river was subject to annual flooding , the northernmost 8 , 000 feet ( 2 , 400 m ) of the line was elevated on trestles . in 1892 the line was sold to the portland consolidated street railway company , which switched to a bigger gauge to match its other tracks and began to electrify the railway for trolleys . family , other interests dekum was married in 1859 to fanny of st. louis , with whom he had eight children . in portland , they lived in a three - story house , built in about 1864 , on a tract later defined by northwest 13th and 14th avenues and morrison and yamhill streets , that was at the time well outside the city . the house featured staggered quoins at its corners , a three - bay entrance porch , segmental arched windows , and a conservatory ( sun room ) on the south . fanny died in 1877 . president of the german song bird society , dekum contributed money to import german song birds , including thrushes , starlings , and nightingales , to oregon . according to one report , the society brought a total of about 500 german birds to oregon at various times and released many of them into the wild , mainly in portland parks . although birds from these early importations survived for years by some accounts , they all eventually disappeared . dekum was also president of the german aid society of portland . death and legacy during the panic of 1893 , when many banks failed , dekum 's portland savings bank barely survived . portland historian e. kimbark maccoll writes that among portland bankers the banker who suffered the heaviest loss was frank dekum , who died in 1894 , partially from the strain of the depression . with david p. thompson 's help , he had managed to salvage enough out of the wreckage of the portland savings bank to leave an estate of over $ 1 million , largely in downtown real estate ; his railway holdings had collapsed . thompson , who had been president of the savings bank from 1880 to 1886 , had sold all his bank stocks before his appointment in 1891 as american minister to turkey . upon his return in 1893 , he was appointed receiver for the bank . wells fargo bought dekum 's other bank , commercial national bank of portland , in january 1894 . dekum died on october 19 that year and was buried in lone fir cemetery in southeast portland . northeast dekum street in portland 's woodlawn neighborhood is named after him .