The North Park Blocks form a city park in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, in the United States. Most of the park is in northwest Portland (north of Burnside), but one block (

Ankeny Square Ankeny Square is part of the North Park Blocks in Portland, Oregon. The square is south of Burnside Street. One local reporter described it as "a little nub of SW Ankeny Street between Broadway and Park". In 2014, the square was home to a food c ...

) is in southwest Portland (south of Burnside).

Description and history

Captain John H. Couch deeded the five blocks to the city in 1865, and they were officially platted for a municipal park in 1869. An ordinance was passed in 1904, setting aside one park block for women and children. In 1906, another block was added for a children's playground. The playground was divided into a boys' playground and a small children's and girls' playground. Use of the North Park Blocks declined, especially as the 1924 zoning code did not preserve residential uses near them. By the 1940s, the North Park Blocks area was decidedly neglected. A problem with the homeless and aggressive panhandlers led to Daisy Kingdom and the U.S. Customs House to hire security guards, and park sprinklers were set to intermittently spray sleepers. In 1989, the problem was worse; that year the local Montessori School found drug users and discarded needles in the city playground. In 2002, Chinese foundry owner Huo Baozhu donated '' Da Tung and Xi'an Bao Bao'', full-size bronze reproductions of

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

elephant statues, to Portland. The city placed them on the North Park Blocks where children could interact with them. In recent years, the North Park Blocks have experienced a renaissance. Upscale condominiums and creative commercial buildings have replaced vacant or underutilized buildings. One major project was the 2014–15 major renovation of the historic

511 Federal Building The 511 Federal Building is a former federal post office that is currently known as the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design of the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland, Oregon, United States. PNCA moved into the b ...

, a former federal post office built in 1916–18, to become the new main campus of the

Pacific Northwest College of Art The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is an art school of Willamette University and is located in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1909, the art school grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and graduate degrees including the Master of Fine ...

References

External links

* {{Pearl District, Portland, Oregon 1869 establishments in Oregon Parks in Portland, Oregon Pearl District, Portland, Oregon Protected areas established in 1869 Urban public parks Southwest Portland, Oregon

Description and history

See also

References

External links