also paid for the masonry footbridge across Wahkeena Falls and the reinforced concrete arch pedestrian bridge over the lower Multnomah Falls. In 1905 Benson donated the Forestry Building at the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland. The building was the largest wooden building at the time and it burnt down in 1964. The interior was copied in the Glacier Park Lodge. Simon Benson was a tee-totaler and he wanted to discourage his workers from drinking alcohol in the middle of the day. In 1912, Benson gave the City of Portland $10,000 for the installation of twenty bronze temperance fountains for clean drinking water. These fountains, known as "Benson Bubblers", are still in use in downtown Portland. Today there are 52 Benson fountains, most in Portland but also one in Sapporo, Japan (since 1965), the first of Portland's sister cities; one at the Maryhill Museum of Art in the Columbia River Gorge; and since 2012 one in Pendleton, Oregon. Conservationist Francis J. Murnane was instrumental in preserving the bubblers, his first successful project. Benson was chosen to represent Oregon at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, as the state's "First Citizen." In 1916, Benson gave the Portland School District $100,000 to help fund the building of a polytechnic school. Finished in 1918, the school was first used for the training of soldiers for World War I. It was re-opened to high school students in January 1919 and renamed Benson Polytechnic. In 1921, after moving to Beverly Hills, California, Benson deeded the city of Portland nine acres overlooking the Willamette River between North Greeley and Going Streets. The land was later dedicated as Madrona Park. Simon Benson Award The Simon Benson Award was created in 1999 to honor the region's contemporary pioneers of philanthropy. Portland State University's Simon Benson Award honors philanthropists who have made a lasting impact in the region. Footnotes Further reading Alice Benson Allen, Simon Benson: Northwest Lumber King. Hillsboro, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1976. External links "The Simon Benson House: Home of the PSUAA," Portland State University Alumni Association, www.pdx.edu/ "Benson Bridge," Portland Hikers.com, www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/ "Benson Bubblers," Portland Water Bureau, City of Portland, Oregon, www.portlandoregon.gov/ 1852 births 1942 deaths People from Oppland People from Crawford County, Wisconsin People from Black River Falls, Wisconsin 19th-century American businesspeople Philanthropists from Oregon Burials at River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon) Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon Businesspeople in timber