Mill Ends Park (sometimes mistakenly called Mill's End Park) is a tiny
urban park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...
, consisting of one tree, located in the median strip of
SW Naito Parkway next to
Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, along the Willamette River. After the 1974 removal of Harbor Drive, a major milestone in the freeway removal movement, the park was opened to the public in 19 ...
along 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 ...
near SW Taylor Street in downtown
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 ...
, United States. The park is a small circle across, with a total area of . It is the smallest park in the world, according to the ''
Guinness Book of Records'', which first granted it this recognition in 1971, though this title may be soon given to a 2022 park in
Talent, Oregon, which is smaller.
History
In 1948 the site that would become Mill Ends Park was intended to be the site for a light pole. When the pole failed to appear and weeds sprouted in the opening, Dick Fagan, a columnist for the ''
Oregon Journal
''The Oregon Journal'' was Portland, Oregon's daily afternoon newspaper from 1902 to 1982. The ''Journal'' was founded in Portland by C. S. "Sam" Jackson, publisher of Pendleton, Oregon's ''East Oregonian'' newspaper, after a group of Portlander ...
'', planted flowers in the hole and named it after his column in the paper, "Mill Ends" (a reference to leftover irregular pieces of wood at lumber mills). Fagan's office in the ''Journal'' building overlooked the median in the middle of the busy thoroughfare that ran in front of the building (then known as SW Front Avenue).
The park was dedicated on
St. Patrick's Day, 1976, as "the only
leprechaun
A leprechaun ( ga, leipreachán/luchorpán) is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. ...
colony west of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
," according to Fagan.
Legend
![Mill Ends Park overhead facing NNW P5414](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Mill_Ends_Park_overhead_facing_NNW_P5414.jpg)
Fagan told this story of the park's origin: He looked out the window and spotted a leprechaun digging in the hole. He ran down and grabbed the leprechaun, which meant that he had earned a wish. Fagan said he wished for a park of his own, but since he had not specified the size of the park in his wish, the leprechaun gave him the hole.
Over the next two decades, Fagan often featured the park and its head leprechaun in his whimsical column. Fagan claimed to be the only person who could see the head leprechaun, Patrick O'Toole.
[
Fagan published a threat by O'Toole about the 11 o'clock curfew set on all city parks. O'Toole dared the mayor to try to evict him and his followers from Mill Ends and threatened a leprechaun curse on him should he attempt to do so. Subsequently, no legal action was taken, and the leprechauns were allowed to stay in the park after hours.]
According to legend, the leprechauns at Mill Ends Park are only visible to humans at midnight during a full moon on St. Patrick's Day -- and even then, only to children bearing four-leaf clovers as gifts. The next St. Patrick's Day full moon is March 17, 2041.
Evolution
Fagan died of cancer in 1969, but the park lives on, cared for by others. It was named an official city park in 1976.[
The small circle has featured many unusual items through the decades, including a swimming pool for butterflies—complete with diving board—a horseshoe, a fragment of the Journal building, and a miniature ]Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
, which was delivered by a full-size crane.
On St. Patrick's Day, 2001, the park was visited by a tiny leprechaun leaning against his pot of gold and children's drawings of four-leaf clovers and leprechauns.[ The park continues to be the site of St. Patrick's Day festivities. The events held here include concerts by Clan Macleay Pipe Band, picnics, and rose plantings by the Junior Rose Festival Court.][
In February 2006, the park was temporarily relocated during road construction to a planter outside the World Trade Center Portland, about from its permanent location. It was returned to its home—now named SW Naito Parkway—on March 16, 2007, in true St. Patrick's Day style with the Royal Rosarians, bagpipers, and the Fagan family, including Dick's widow, Katherine, in attendance.] The legend lives on in the Fagan family. One of Fagan's sons, Pat Fagan, lives in Gladstone and has enjoyed sharing the park with his own son. "He loves it," Pat Fagan said. "It's still the largest leprechaun colony west of Ireland."
In December 2011, plastic army men figures and small signs were placed in Mill Ends as a tongue-in-cheek flash mob
A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...
demonstration for Occupy Portland
Occupy Portland was a collaboration that began on October 6, 2011 in downtown Portland, Oregon as a protest and demonstration against economic inequality worldwide. It is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City ...
. One man, Cameron Scott Whitten, was arrested after he was asked by police to move from the sidewalk and refused.
In March 2013, the park's tree was stolen. Officials planted a replacement tree, and one day later, a passerby found what appeared to be the stolen tree lying next to the new one.
The next month, officials from Burntwood
Burntwood is a former mining town and civil parish in the Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England, approximately west of Lichfield and north east of Brownhills. The town had a population of 26,049 and forms part of Lichfield distric ...
, England, complained to Guinness, claiming that Mill Ends was not large enough to be a park and that Prince's Park, smallest in the UK, should hold the world record since it "has a fence around it" among other features. In response, volunteers erected a fence (several inches tall) around and stationed an "armed guard" in the park.
In 2018, Portland Parks & Recreation installed a miniaturized park sign and planted miniature roses.
In December 2019, the tree was cut down by an unknown vandal. However, the tree was soon replaced.
As of July 2021, the park was "temporarily under construction as part of PBOT's Better Naito Forever."
Construction was completed in January 2022, including a new sign. The park had moved six inches from its previous location during improvements along the Naito Parkway
Naito Parkway is a major thoroughfare of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was formerly known as Front Avenue and Front Street and was renamed in 1996 to honor Bill Naito. It runs between SW Barbur Boulevard and NW Front Avenue, and adjac ...
.
See also
* Forest Park, also in Portland, among the largest urban forests in the country at over
*Waldo Park
Waldo Park is a municipal park, located in downtown Salem, Oregon, United States. It is one of the smallest city parks in the world, measuring . The park consists of a giant sequoia (one of the biggest tree species in the world) surrounded by la ...
, another small park consisting of a tree, located in nearby Salem
References
External links
*
Mills End Park: World's Smallest Park
''Atlas Obscura''
{{Parks in Portland, Oregon
1976 establishments in Oregon
Parks in Portland, Oregon
Protected areas established in 1976
Southwest Portland, Oregon