A Relic of Old Town Portland: Barnes Jewelry

By Richard Moore - January 17th, 2022
I’m sure many have noticed there is not a lot left from Portland’s olden days. Particularly because the old town of Portland was once a crime-ridden, filthy city of the old west along the Columbia and Willamette rivers. However, despite our notorious Shanghai tunnels and their connections to organized crime, a smaller, nicer relic remains from those days: Barnes Jewelry.
The Barnes family settled in the city of Portland in 1896. Alexander Barnes and his wife Cathleen were, as the family claims, “ran out” of the city of Chicago due to Barnes’ marriage with an Irish immigrant, controversial for the time with ethical tensions against the Irish in those days.
Before he came to Portland, Alexander Barnes worked as a private investigator within the city of Cleveland, but moved to Chicago in the year 1893 and was involved with the police in the now-infamous attempted bombing of the 1893 World’s Fair Columbian Exposition.
As for Cathleen McCandall, she was originally from County Cork, Ireland, where she tended her father’s estate. However, growing tensions in Ireland and the sudden death of her father Garrick MacCandall, the last of her immediate family, led her to pursue a new life in the United States. She worked at a textile mill within the city of Cleveland until she met Alexander.
According to Harold Barnes, “my great grandmother was a witness to a murder case my great grandfather was investigating. She, apparently, proved to be more than just a helpful witness, and often assisted him in his investigations afterward. She was a clever woman, and he was a highly intelligent, if not brash, man.”
Alexander Barnes’ murder case led to discovering a plot to murder hundreds of people by an anarchist named Dr. Devin Dynamo. Dynamo had planted bombs across the Columbian Exposition, and in pursuit of the criminal, Alexander was injured and lost his eye. However, thanks to his coordination with police and a still-unknown third party, Dynamo was captured and the bombs were disarmed.
Then in 1896, after a long move, the married couple settled within the city of Portland. There, Alexander desired to retire from detective work and followed his father’s profession, jewelry, and established the Barnes Jewelry we see today in the Old Town. Alexander used much of his own money to build his store, which doubled as the family’s home.
Now, four generations later, we see the business is now helmed by Harold Barnes and his son, Stephen, who run the store in what they consider “the good, old-fashioned way.” The business is still in the same old building where it was first established, and in 1996, they celebrated their 100th anniversary.
The Barnes family invites people to visit their store, which not only has some family historical displays, but still is open for business.