Historical Account of the Town of Portadown, from Bradshaw's Directory 1820

"HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

"OF THE

"TOWN OF PORTADOWN

"PORTADOWN, in the barony of O’Neiland-West, in the county of Armagh, is
a small town, containing about one hundred houses and nine hundred
inhabitants. It is pleasantly seated on the western bank of the river
Bann, over which there is an excellent bridge of thirteen arches. In
the reign of Charles I, it consisted only of four houses, and was at
that time called Portnedown. It lies about nine miles from Armagh,
fifteen from Newry, twenty-two from Belfast, and six from Lough Neagh.
In the year 1631, the estate on which the town stands was granted by
Charles I, to John and Prudence Obins, in which family it still remains.

"About twenty years ago, a number of handsome brick houses and extensive
stores were added to the town, which has since been much enlarged by a
very neat row of houses, two stories high, built by Curran Woodhouse,
Esq. At the west end of the town, there is a neat Methodist chapel,
which is the only house of public worship in Portadown. – The parish
church and the Roman Catholic chapel of Drumcree are situated at a
distance of one mile from the town.

"In the year 1780, a wheat, and indeed, a general grain market, was
established by the late Major Obins and George Woodhouse, Esq. Which has
rapidly encreased, and is now equal to any in the north of Ireland. It
is computed that about five thousand tons of wheat are annually
purchased in this market, and re-sold to the several millers, in the
county of Antrim, &c. Besides this, a considerable quantity of grain is
shipped for England and Scotland, by Curran Woodhouse, Esq. Messrs. John
Atkinson, Thomas Shillington, Wm. Overend, Roger Marley, &c, &c. There
is also a good linen and yarn market in Portadown, every Saturday, and a
monthly fair for the sale of cattle, on the third Saturday in each
month. Annual fairs are likewise held on Easter Monday, Whit-Monday,
and the first Monday in November. There is a distillery and two
breweries in the town; but at present neither of them are in use."