Donald Macleay

Who was Donald Macleay?

Donald Macleay was a prominent 19th century merchant and banker in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Scotland, he emigrated at the age of 16 with his parents to the Canadian province of Quebec before relocating as an adult to California and, later, Oregon. With his business partner William Corbitt, he established a highly profitable wholesale and shipping business in Portland that centered on groceries and liquor, then wheat, salmon, and timber exports. He invested in Oregon railroads, served for a time as president of the Portland Board of Trade, and is generally credited with founding the U.S. National Bank of Portland, of which he was president toward the end of his life.

Macleay was active in Portland's social organizations such as the St. Andrew Society and the Arlington Club. He and his wife, Martha, had four children, one of whom, Roderick, became a director of his father's bank. His legacy includes Macleay Park, a part of Forest Park in Portland, and Macleay, an unincorporated Oregon community that was renamed in his honor in 1882.