Elizabeth “Betsy” Warren

The Bliss House Museum is the namesake of my great-grandmother Rena Bliss Goodnaugh Swigert. She was born in Portland in 1865 and lived here all of her 93 years. She was the daughter of Ira Goodnaugh, a pioneer Portland contractor, who built many early buildings, including the first Multnomah County courthouse and the Goodnaugh building at SW 5th & Yamhill. She married C.F. Swigert, a renowned civil engineer who was instrumental in the construction of many of the region’s bridges, including the Morrison, Burnside, Ross Island, St. John’s, Columbia River Crossing, the Lake Union bridge in Seattle, and the support piers for the Golden Gate and SF Bay bridges. In 1913, he founded the Electric Steel Foundry, later named the ESCO Corporation. In 1929, they started another company which became Hyster. Their daughter, Nani Marie Swigert, married my father Robert Warren, who founded The Cascade Corporation. Although our family is no longer associated with these great companies, I’m sharing this collection with the people of Portland as my way of honoring their monumental contributions to our beloved city