Portland is located 14 miles north of Gallatin on the Highland Rim in extreme northern Middle Tennessee. Sumner and Robertson Counties have always been known for their excellent soil and enjoyable climate. Settlers to the area were attracted from the tobacco belt in Virginia and the Carolinas to the Highland Rim.
Fountain Head, located two miles south of Portland, is the oldest settlement in Sumner County. Founded in 1792 by the James Gwyn family, it grew in a century to include a mill, tobacco warehouse, post office, an L&N Railroad depot, and several stores.
In the 1840s or 1850s, Willliam Nolen built a school near Shun Pike a couple of miles north of Fountain Head. The tiny community was called Richland. In 1859, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad established a Nashville-Bowling Green route through Richland. The same year, Thomas Buntin, a direct ancestor of retired Nashville advertising executive Jeffrey Buntin, built a depot beside the railroad track in Richland. Buntin became the L&N’s agent there and the town’s first postmaster. Even today, the railroad runs through the middle of town. In 1871, a seminary was built in Richland. It became Sumner County High School in 1915.
In 1887, Richland’s name was changed to Portland because it had been earlier discovered that there were two Richlands in Tennessee. This caused confusion as mail was often sent to the wrong town.
In the 1960s when I-65 was completed in Robertson County five miles west of Portland, the town saw a number of manufacturing plants relocate near the interstate. The first was Diado America which brought its world headquarters to Portland. Two others with plants near the interstate were Kyawa America and Unipress.
Portland has grown from a small town of 1,000 people in 1930 to 11,486. By 2020, Portland had grown to 13,166. The city is almost entirely Protestant with the two largest churches being the Portland Church of Christ and the First Baptist Church. The Highland Seventh Day Adventist Church is also large. A city staff member said today one challenge the city was facing was finding a more sustainable water supply.
One of the best known natives of Portland is Ronnie McDowell, an American country music artist who was born in Portland in 1950. His most popular song was ”The King is Gone,” a 1977 tribute to Elvis Presley who died earlier that year. McDowell has been generous with his hometown. When the Portland train depot burned, McDowell rebuilt a replica on the same site and converted it into a popular restaurant. He was also good to his children’s friends. Tammy Rogers, a close friend of the McDowells’ daughter, Keva, remembers going with the McDowells to Disney World and Niagara Falls. Tammy also flew with the McDowells in a private plane to a McDowell concert in Kentucky.
Driving into Portland, there is a sign on State Highway 52 that says, “Welcome to Portland, the Home of Corey Brewer,” a Portland High School basketball star who was named Mr. Basketball in the TSSAA’S 2A Division in 2003. He went on to start at the University of Florida before being drafted by the NBA as the 7th pick by the Minneapolis Timberwolves In 2007. The 6’9” forward played in the NBA for thirteen years before retiring in 2020.