Note 067 — {29} CHAPTER II
Reading edition
Portland was one of many towns laid out along the Mississippi by speculators who hoped that important cities would arise on the sites chosen. This particular venture was undertaken by a company organized in Cincinnati in 1819; but inhabitants failed to come, and the buildings erected by the promoters fell into ruins. The site was near the present town of Chester; an Illinois state penitentiary now stands on the spot.—Ed.