Portland Area Places of Worship
The map below represents religious institutions, including churches, synagogues, temples and mosques. This is to give you an idea of the diversity and the number of religious places in Portland, Oregon.
Buildings, of course, tell only part of the story. This doesn’t reflect congregation size, change, or when these places of worship were built. We wanted to provide this simple overarching view of the religious landscape in Portland due to the increased focus on Islam, including a rise in hate speech and hate crimes, in America since the 2016 presidential election.
*This map is an ongoing project. If you noticed a worship place missing or any other error please let us know via email: jmiiiid@gmail.com. Thank you!
Created in collaboration with Prof. David Banis, GIS Lab Manager & Associate Director of the Center for Spatial Analysis & Research, Professor at the Portland State University. Data source: Center for Spatial Analysis & Research, Google Maps, Muslim Community Center of Portland, Rizwan Mosque, Islamic Center of Portland, Masjid As-Saber, Bilal Masjid, Masjid Omar Farooq, Abu-Bakar Islamic Center, BECO (Bosniaks Educational & Cultural Organization), Al Furqan Islamic Center, Bethany Musallah, Islamic Community Center of Hillsboro.
Portland Mosques and Islamic Centers
The map below shows when the first and last mosque were built in the Portland area. However, Muslims resided in this area even before the first mosque was built, according to Oregon Historical Society. Some of the mosque representatives who provided information to create this timeline said their communities rented apartments or business spaces before they could build these mosques and Islamic centers. As stated above, this map doesn’t represent the number of Muslims in the area or the congregation size.
Data source: Muslim Community Center of Portland, Rizwan Mosque, Islamic Center of Portland, Masjid As-Saber, Bilal Masjid, Masjid Omar Farooq, Abu-Bakar Islamic Center, BECO (Bosniaks Educational & Cultural Organization), Al Furqan Islamic Center, Bethany Musallah, Islamic Community Center of Hillsboro.
Portland Through Their Eyes (Mental Map)
A mental map is a small representation of the relation a person has with their city, in this case, The City of Roses. We asked Sadaf, Shabnam, Hanan, Ibeth and Fatmah about specific places in Portland that are part of their experience here. See some of their favorite spots to hang out, pray, eat and shop. Click on an icon to find out more about each place, who goes there and why.
Data source: interviews with Sadaf Assadi, Hanan Al-Zubaidy, Shabnam Jahromi, Fatmah Worfeley and Ibeth Hernandez (pending).
Maps created by Vika Haiboniuk