Hst 494: Historic Portland Maps: Home Owners' Loan Corporation

The Home Owners' Loan Corporation was established in 1933 under the New Deal, it's purpose being to issue bonds and provide loans to new homeowners. As part of this process, it accessed the perceived value of neighborhoods, with each neighborhood colored coded to denote its "Desirability." In the maps they produced, areas deemed undesirable were marked red, creating the practice of "Redlining." Homeowners, banks, realtors, and government agencies would actively use this practice of redlining as a segregation tool.

The Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America project has placed these maps online, and it allows users to compare 1930s redline maps to current neighborhoods.

1) Find Portland on the US Map

2) The Portland map shows the area of the city. Select the area of interest.

3) Select the neighborhood of interest.