Cathedral Park is a park and the name for the eponymous neighborhood in the northernmost section of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

on the east shore of the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

. The park is situated under the St. Johns Bridge, and was given its name due to the Gothic arches that support the bridge, which resemble a cathedral arch.

History

The land the park occupies was originally part of the city of St. Johns. The St. Johns Bridge opened in 1931, but at that time there was no park. In August 1949, a fifteen-year-old girl named Thelma Taylor was kidnapped and murdered under the bridge in the space where the park now exists. According to local folklore, due to this, the park is supposedly haunted. In 1968, the city acquired the land under the bridge, which became a dumping ground. Residents then raised $7.5 million in the 1970s to build a park on the site, which opened on May 3, 1980. A sculpture by Donald Fels was added to the park in 2008, entitled "Drawing on the River". In August 2013, the amphitheater hosted the final "Trek in the Park" performance put on by the Atomic Arts group. The boat ramp was used as a staging area for protests in 2015 against the MSV ''Fennica'', an icebreaker used by Shell Oil.

Recreation

The park contains several walking trails, picnic benches, as well as a floating dock that extends onto the Willamette River. It also is home to a small outdoor stage, where the city has held an annual summer

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

festival since 1980. The Cathedral Park Jazz Fest is the oldest free jazz festival west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. Cathedral Park also contains a boat ramp on the north end of the park. It is considered a popular location for weddings.

References

External links

Trees of Cathedral Park
{{Parks in Portland, Oregon 1980 establishments in Oregon Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon Parks in Portland, Oregon Protected areas established in 1980 Reportedly haunted locations in Portland, Oregon

History

Recreation

See also

References

External links