 The first known reference to Portland as "The City of Roses" was made by visitors to an 1888 Episcopal Church convention.In 1889, the Portland Rose Society was founded, and promoted the planting of 20 miles (32 km) of Portland's streets with roses in advance of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.The nickname grew in popularity after the exposition, where Mayor Harry Lane suggested that the city needed a "festival of roses."