The South Park Blocks form a city park in
downtown Portland
Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found.
...
,
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 ...
.
''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'' has called it Portland's "extended family room", as
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Pioneer Courthouse Square, also known as Portland's living room, is a public space occupying a full city block in the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1984, the square is bounded by Southwest Morrison Street on t ...
is known as Portland's "living room".
Twelve blocks in length, it is intersected by the
Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. The L ...
and forms the
Portland Cultural District and the
greenspace at the center of
Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...
.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' stated the blocks are "literally at the heart of the city's cultural life." Public artworks in the park include ''
Shemanski Fountain'' (1926), ''
In the Shadow of the Elm'', ''
Peace Chant'', (1984),
Alexander Phimister Proctor
Alexander Phimister Proctor (September 27, 1860 – September 5, 1950) was an American sculpture, sculptor with the contemporary reputation as one of the nation's foremost animaliers.
Birth and early years
Proctor was born on September 27, ...
's ''
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider'', and a
statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
. The park also contains approximately 337 elm, oak, and maple trees valued at $3.4 million, as well as roses. A plaque from the Lang Syne Society was placed in the South Park Blocks at Jefferson Street in 1991, commemorating the
Great Plank Road.
History
Continuous Park Blocks
Portland was
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...
ted in 1845, then
Daniel H. Lownsdale purchased land south and west of the original platting.
He drew up a plat in 1848 that included 11 narrow blocks, 100 × 200 feet, instead of the standard 200 × 200 feet.
He then brought on
Stephen Coffin
Stephen Coffin (1807 – 1882) was an investor, promoter, builder, and militia officer in mid-19th century Portland, Oregon, Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Born in Maine, he moved to Oregon City, Oregon, Oregon City in 1847, and in 1849 he ...
and
William W. Chapman
William Williams Chapman (August 11, 1808October 18, 1892) was an American politician and lawyer in Oregon and Iowa. He was born and raised in Virginia. He served as a United States Attorney in Iowa when it was part of the Michigan and Wisconsin ...
as partners, and dedicated the South Park Blocks and midtown park blocks in 1852.
This made them the first official greenspace in Portland.
While they were dedicated to the city, they weren't owned by the city until September 22, 1870, when Mayor
Bernard Goldsmith
Bernard Goldsmith (November 20, 1832 – July 22, 1901) was a Bavarian-American businessman and politician. He is best remembered as the 19th mayor of Portland, Oregon, serving from 1869 to 1871, and as the first Jew to hold that position.
...
and Chapman agreed on selling the South Park Blocks and the two
Plaza Blocks
The Plaza Blocks, two courthouse squares known as Chapman Square and Lownsdale Square, are located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The blocks are north of Terry Schrunk Plaza and east of City Hall. The northmost square is named after ...
(Chapman and Lownsdale Squares) to the city for $6,250.
Most of the purchase price was for the Plaza Blocks, since the park blocks were at the edge of the developed city.
Ownership of the continuous park blocks was not without dispute, however.
After Lownsdale died without a will, and then his wife Nancy died, his estate challenged that his plat didn't require the central section to be dedicated to public use since Nancy had not signed over legal title to the land.
The courts agreed in 1865.
Benjamin Stark
Benjamin Stark (June 26, 1820October 10, 1898) was an American merchant and politician in Oregon. A native of Louisiana, he purchased some of the original tracts of land for the city of Portland. He later served in the Oregon House of Representat ...
reneged on the donation of two north central park blocks to the city, instead offering to sell them for $138,000.
Captain
John H. Couch deeded his section, which became the
North Park Blocks
The North Park Blocks form a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Most of the park is in northwest Portland (north of Burnside), but one block (Ankeny Square) is in southwest Portland (south of Burnside).
Description and ...
to the city on January 25, 1865, only ten days after receiving the federal patent for the land.
Six of the South Park Blocks were lost to private parties in the 1870s, and elected city officials were unwilling to spend the asking price of $6,000 per block to purchase them so soon after the city had bought the land for
Washington Park.
Only a year later, a proposal to acquire the six blocks for $92,000 was brought by the city council, showing the increase in prices in that year.
A 1907 tax bond issue was brought to the voters.
It would have been a $2 million bond, likely including money to buy back the blocks.
The measure failed, and some time later, the street name changed from "West Park" to Southwest 9th".
Two missing blocks have been recaptured since then:
O'Bryant Square
Darcelle XV Plaza (formerly O'Bryant Square) is a square that was a small park and fountain at the intersection of Southwest Park Avenue and Southwest Harvey Milk Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It received the current n ...
was purchased in 1973,
and
Director Park
Director Park (officially Simon and Helen Director Park) is a city park in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 2009 at a cost of $9.5 million, it covers a 700-space underground parking garage, which connects underground to the Fox T ...
opened in 2009.
Residential park blocks
By the late 1870s, the Park Blocks near the current location of Portland State University were fronted by formal
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
mansions.
By the 1920s, the central park blocks were home to the 12-story
Stevens Building and the 9-story
Woodlark Building, as well as six or more hotels.
Edward H. Bennett
Edward Herbert Bennett (1874–1954) was an architect and city planner best known for his co-authorship of the 1909 Plan of Chicago.
Biography
Bennett was born in Bristol, England in 1874, and later moved to San Francisco with his family.Cohen, 2 ...
proposed making the Park Blocks continuous in 1912, part of his "Greater Portland Plan".
Otherwise, the next spark was the conversion of one central park block into
O'Bryant Square
Darcelle XV Plaza (formerly O'Bryant Square) is a square that was a small park and fountain at the intersection of Southwest Park Avenue and Southwest Harvey Milk Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It received the current n ...
in 1972.
The next block to be reclaimed was
Director Park
Director Park (officially Simon and Helen Director Park) is a city park in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 2009 at a cost of $9.5 million, it covers a 700-space underground parking garage, which connects underground to the Fox T ...
, dedicated as a park in 2009, inspired by a 1995 plan to turn the block into a 12-story parking lot.
In 1933, the area surrounding
Skidmore Fountain
The Skidmore Fountain is a historic fountain in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United States.
The fountain is a contributing property of and the namesake for the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, which is also a National Historic Landmark ...
was "tawdry" and nearly neglected, and there was an effort to move the fountain to the South Park Blocks. This did not happen.
After a 1990
Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...
outbreak in Portland, including one diseased tree at Park and Market in the South Park Blocks, the elm trees have been immunized with
Tiabendazole
Tiabendazole (INN, BAN), also known as thiabendazole (AAN, USAN) or TBZ and the trade names Mintezol, Tresaderm, and Arbotect, is a preservative, an antifungal agent, and an antiparasitic agent.
Uses
Preservative
Tiabendazole is used primar ...
. Portland's first outbreak of Dutch elm disease occurred in 1976 at
Overlook Park, and the peak infections were in 2003.
Events
![PSU campus in spring 07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/PSU_campus_in_spring_07.JPG)
On May 5, 1918, the dedication of the Vista House at
Crown Point began with a parade of cars from the South Park Blocks, on the newly completed
Historic Columbia River Highway
The Historic Columbia River Highway is an approximately scenic highway in the U.S. state of Oregon between Troutdale and The Dalles, built through the Columbia River Gorge between 1913 and 1922. As the first planned scenic roadway in the United ...
.
The
Portland Rose Festival
The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association with the purpose of promoting the Portland region. It inclu ...
began and was located in and around the South Park Blocks in 1936, but were outgrowing the blocks by the 1950s.
Residents sued to prohibit the Rose Festival from using the parks and lost.
By 2007, the festival was relocated 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 1978 ...
.
The first
Earth Day
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...
, on April 22, 1970, was celebrated with a fair on the blocks. In 1975, the Portland city council held Portland's first
gay pride
LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...
fair along the park.
It was moved 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 1978 ...
the following year.
The
Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic
The Seattle to Portland, or STP, is an annual one- or two-day supported bicycle ride from Seattle, Washington, to Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The STP "is considered one of the 10 biggest recreational bicycle rides in the country, drawin ...
, known as STP, concluded in the South Park Blocks from 1979 to 1998, then moved to
Cathedral Park. In 1997–1999, ''
Tony n' Tina's Wedding
''Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding'' is an "environmental/immersive theatre" event based on a traditional Italian-American wedding and reception, with warm and intrusive stereotypes exaggerated for comic effect. Audience members are treated as guests at ...
'', an
interactive theatre
Interactive theatre is a presentational or theatrical form or work that breaks the "fourth wall" that traditionally separates the performer from the audience both physically and verbally.
In traditional theatre, performance is limited to a design ...
, took place using the park as the stage; the wedding was held at the First Unitarian Church and later at the
Oregon History Center
The Oregon Historical Society Museum is a history museum housed at the Oregon Historical Society in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The museum was created in 1898 and receives about 44,000 visitors annually.
It houses the Portland Penn ...
, and the reception was held at the
Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it one of the oldest art museums on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the US. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum becam ...
, being a "little street theater" on the park blocks.
After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, the Park Blocks filled with a candlelight vigil and a memorial concert by the
Oregon Symphony
The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the 'Portland Symphony Society' in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. I ...
, which was free in the
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (opened as the Portland Publix Theatre before becoming the Paramount Theatre after 1930) is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon, United States. Part of the Portland Center ...
and was also broadcast into the blocks.
On December 3, 2011,
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 ...
established camp in the South Park Blocks.
Other events have included
Artquake, an art festival that attracted 200,000 people on Labor Day weekends in the Park Blocks from 1982 until at least 2003 and based on an art show that began in July 1949,
a 1983 protest against U.S. nuclear missiles placed in Europe (3,000 protesters), an
Oregon Public Employees Union
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
strike in 1987, a rally with presidential candidate
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...
in 1988,
Shakespeare in the Park
Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This conc ...
s in 1989, a 1990 rally to pay tribute to
Mulugeta Seraw
Mulugeta Seraw ( am, ሙሉጌታ ስራው; October 21, 1960 – November 13, 1988) was an Ethiopian student who traveled to the United States to attend college. He was 28 when he was murdered by three white supremacists in November 1988 in Por ...
, killed in Portland by
white power skinhead
White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white nationalist organizations and ...
s in 1988, which had 1,500 people with 150 police officers defending against skinheads, and the
Homowo
Homowo is a harvest festival celebrated by the Ga people of Ghana in the Greater Accra Region. The festival starts in the month of
August with the planting of crops (mainly maize and yam) before the rainy season starts. During the festival, ...
Festival of African Arts held from 1990 to at least 2004.
Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World'' (1992), ...
filmed scenes from ''
The Temp'' in the South Park Blocks in 1992, and ''
The Hunted'' was filmed partially in the South Park Blocks in 2003, including a crash scene by
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen A ...
.
In celebration of
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
's 100th anniversary in 2003, an event called Rose City Thunder was held in the South Park blocks, to send riders off for the "Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Ride Home".
Two appeals seeking a venue change were held prior to the event, but the city council rejected them, with City Commissioner Jim Francesconi stating "We don't discriminate against groups, period. That's the rules and that's what we abide by." Featuring live music, beer gardens, and thousands of people, it led to questions about why the residential
Park Blocks were used, rather than a venue such as
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 1978 ...
.
An editorial in ''The Oregonian'' stated the celebration was "more potbelly than pot smoking", but held the loud exhausts, public address systems, and rows of portable toilets weren't appreciated in a neighborhood setting.
Organizers estimated 15,000 visitors, plus 2,000 motorcycles attended.
In 2006, because of the
implosion of the
cooling tower
A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and ...
at
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant was a pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant (Westinghouse design) in the northwest United States, located southeast of Rainier, Oregon, and the only commercial nuclear power plant to be built in Oregon. There w ...
, a group got together in the South Park Blocks and brought down a 25-foot model tower to celebrate the implosion.
More events included a
pro-choice
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
march, rally, and workshops in 1989 with 2700 to 7500 attendees, a
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen (" ...
anniversary memorial ceremony in 1990, the "Earth Fair" (celebrating
Earth Day
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...
, held in at least 1990 and 1991; 1990 saw 15,000–20,000 visitors in the rain), a 1991
Fourth of July
Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...
parade to honor returnees from
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
(called the Defenders of Liberty Welcome Home Parade), the Potluck in the Park homeless meal (held from 1991 until 1996, when it was moved to
O'Bryant Square
Darcelle XV Plaza (formerly O'Bryant Square) is a square that was a small park and fountain at the intersection of Southwest Park Avenue and Southwest Harvey Milk Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It received the current n ...
), a 1,000-strong rally for
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers during his arrest after a pursuit for driving whi ...
on May 2, 1992, the Oregon Trailfest, a 1993 celebration of the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...
(including an authentic encampment with
teepees
A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...
and wagons), Portland's first
Critical Mass
In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fissi ...
, held on September 24, 1993 with 100 cyclists in the South Park Blocks, the Portland Arts Festival (part of the
Portland Rose Festival
The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association with the purpose of promoting the Portland region. It inclu ...
) held in 1998 through at least 2006, a gun control rally in 2000, the 2,000 people (which included the
Million Mom March
The Million Mom March was a rally held on Mother's Day, May 14, 2000 in the Washington, D.C. National Mall by the Million Mom March organization to call for stricter gun control. The march reportedly drew an estimated attendance of 500,000 to 75 ...
) for the Amala Peace Walk in 2000, welcoming the
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...
, an
AIDS Walk
AIDS Walk is a walkathon fundraiser that raises money to combat the AIDS epidemic. Since 1985, AIDS Walk Los Angeles has drawn hundreds of thousands of supporters to walk, and millions more to donate, raising more than $90 million to combat HIV ...
in September 2000, the "PDX AIDS Day Promise Vigil" at ''
Shemanski Fountain'' to mark
World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immun ...
in 2006, a campaign rally and speech by
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
in October 2000, the Twilight
Criterium
A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m.
Overview
Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time ...
from 2002 to 2006 (attracting 10,000 spectators, moved in 2007 to the
North Park Blocks
The North Park Blocks form a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Most of the park is in northwest Portland (north of Burnside), but one block (Ankeny Square) is in southwest Portland (south of Burnside).
Description and ...
due to construction), a protest by about 150 people against the use of deadly force by Portland Police in a racially motivated traffic stop, a march of grandmothers and mothers on
Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...
2004 titled "Mothers Acting Up", a reading of
Pablo Neruda
Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...
's poetry on the 100th anniversary of his birth (July 2004), a protest with 150 people to "mourn for the loss of our country" in November 2004 when
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
lost the
2004 presidential election, a celebration of the Oregon
State Quarter's launch in 2005, a parade titled "Procession for the Future" for "climate stabilization and ecological well-being", "worker dignity", "think outside the (water) bottle", "just security and global justice", as well as costumed
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
,
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
, and
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...
"dressed as jailbirds" held on March 4, 2008.
Other events have been held, including the Park Block Revels (held from 1972 to at least 1992),
the Oregon Historical Society's Holiday Cheer and Authors Party,
the Portland Poetry Festival (held from 1972 to at least 1992), Shakespeare-in-the-Park by the Portland Actors Ensemble, the
Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank was a prominent chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought by The May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.
History Summary
Meier & Frank was f ...
Holiday Parade (held from 1988 on), the Downtown Community Association's Ice Cream Social (held from 1990 to at least 1992), Carifest, a party by the Caribbean Cultural Association, held from 1996 until at least 2003, and PeaceQuake, "an event focused on refugee experiences and
alternatives to war", held by Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility in at least September 2002 and 2003. In 2008, a local resident was known for wheeling her piano down an elevator and 1.5 blocks to the Park Blocks, setting it up and playing "Chopin under the trees." The
Bicycle Transportation Alliance
The Street Trust (formerly the Bicycle Transportation Alliance) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit advocacy organization based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The Street Trust advocates for the safety and ease of biking, walking and riding public t ...
hosted a breakfast to support
Bike to Work Month in May 2009.
Protests
![May Day rally, PDX, 2017 - 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/May_Day_rally%2C_PDX%2C_2017_-_4.jpg)
The South Park Blocks, especially near Portland State University, have been home to protests and marches. A workers' rights protest on May 1, 2000, organized by the May Day Coalition, gathered 300–400 people.
Police chief Mark Kroeker said 19 people, some "dressed like anarchists and (carrying)
gas masks
A gas mask is a mask used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas mask ...
" were arrested, and
Portland Police used
bean bag rounds, with fears of repeating the
1999 WTO riots in Seattle unless sufficient force was shown early.
The police declared emergency at 3:45 pm after a lit newspaper box was thrown at officers, then the police corralled the marchers into a smaller space with mounted officers and ordered them to disperse.
A protest march against the police action was held on May 4, 2000, stating that the
show of force
A show of force is a military operation intended to warn (such as a warning shot) or to intimidate an opponent by showcasing a capability or will to act if one is provoked. Shows of force may also be executed by police forces and other armed, non ...
was excessive and contrary to the city's
community policing
Community policing, or community-oriented policing (COP), is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols ...
ethos. 23 complaints of excessive police force led to a large citywide hearing on June 28, 2000. The 2009 May Day rally, supporting immigration reform, attracted 1500 people.
In 2006, approximately 1,200 protesters, primarily Latino high-school age students joined by
Jobs with Justice
Jobs With Justice (JWJ) is a labor rights organization in the United States, focused on the vision that all workers should be able to collectively bargain. It was founded in 1987 and is made up of individuals and affiliated organizations. As of 2 ...
, took part in the
2006 United States immigration reform protests
In 2006–2007, millions of people participated in protests over a proposed change to U.S. immigration policy. These large scale mobilizations are widely seen as a historic turn point in Latino politics, especially Latino immigrant civic partici ...
. In 2007, 15,000 protesters of all ages began a rally and march as part of the
March 17, 2007 anti-war protest __NOTOC__
The March 17, 2007 anti-war protest was an anti-war demonstration sponsored by ANSWER Coalition that marched from Constitution Gardens in Washington, D.C. to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The date was selected to coincide with ...
, including local activists affiliated with the radical
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...
. After a fringe group broke off from the protest and burned a US soldier in
effigy
An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...
,
Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin (; Maglalang; born October 20, 1970) is an American conservative political commentator. She was a Fox News contributor and in May 2020 joined Newsmax TV. Malkin has written seven books and founded the conservative websites Twit ...
stated that "Portland hates America."
The
Drudge Report
The Drudge Report (stylized as DRUDGE REPORT) is a U.S.-based news aggregation website founded by Matt Drudge, and run with the help of Charles Hurt and Daniel Halper. The site was generally regarded as a conservative publication, though its o ...
,
Lars Larson
Lars Kristopher Larson (born March 6, 1959)"Lars Kristopher Larson". ''Who's Who in the West'', 26th ed. Accessed June 17, 2013 via LexisNexis. is an American conservative talk radio show host based in Portland, Oregon. Larson worked in televis ...
, and conservative blogs also commented on the effigy, and protest organizers with the
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...
stated "We had a massive, peaceful demonstration against the killing and destruction going on every day in Iraq, a positive experience for thousands of people from different walks of life, and apparently the right-wing fringe is going to pick up that little portion."
Many protests and marches have been held in response to the
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
. There were several anti-war rallies in 2001 through 2003, including 20,000 at a January 18, 2003 rally,
and 20,000–45,000 for the March 15, 2003 rally.
Groups broke off from the protest to block roads and the
Morrison Bridge
The Morrison Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Completed in 1958, it is the third bridge at approximately the same site to carry that name. It is one of the most heavily used bridges in Portland. It ...
; these splinter groups were broken up by the police.
John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
spoke at the rally.
Approximately 15,000 people protested the fourth anniversary of the war (March 2007). For the fifth anniversary, the
Iraq Body Count Exhibit placed red and white flags in the South Park Blocks, signifying who had died between the Americans and Iraqis. There was a large fifth-anniversary protest and parade against the Iraq war ("thousands of protesters", March 2008), and
a high school student protest against the war was held in March 2008, with 400 protesters.
=Portland State strike and riot
=
In May 1970, there was a Vietnam War protest held in the park blocks, held in response to the invasion of Cambodia and the
Kent State Shootings
The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre,"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years bef ...
.
Strikers barricaded streets surrounding the university and Park Blocks, causing them to become car-free, as they are now.
Due in part to the Kent State Shootings on May 4, and 134 faculty members who had formally joined the strike, Portland State University was forced to close from May 6 to 11.
By May 6, the protesters formed an underground newspaper, called the ''Wallposter'', and had four demands: "U.S. out of S.E. Asia now; troops, cops off campus; free
Bobby Seale
Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...
; detoxify
nerve gas
Nerve agents, sometimes also called nerve gases, are a class of organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs. The disruption is caused by the blocking of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme that ...
."
Posters with a logo were printed in the PSU Smith Center cafeteria, but protesters were evicted from the area by May 7 after a "wild, all-night party".
On May 11, police officers charged protesters and forcibly removed a symbolic hospital tent (a
geodesic dome
A geodesic dome is a hemispherical thin-shell structure (lattice-shell) based on a geodesic polyhedron. The triangular elements of the dome are structurally rigid and distribute the structural stress throughout the structure, making geodesic dom ...
) placed on the blocks.
28 protesters were injured and taken to area hospitals, and four police officers were injured.
Lawsuits following the protest led to Portland Police agreeing to never use force against non-violent protesters in the future.
Pedestrian access and renewal
![South Park Blocks at Salmon Street - Portland, Oregon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/South_Park_Blocks_at_Salmon_Street_-_Portland%2C_Oregon.JPG)
The southern end of the South Park Blocks were closed to cars in 1973, removing traffic from the blocks and the center of the university.
The area was the focus of a
Portland Development Commission
Prosper Portland, formerly the Portland Development Commission (PDC), is the community development corporation created by the city of Portland, Oregon. It promotes development, housing projects and economic development within the city's eleven urba ...
urban renewal based on a 1982 master plan, becoming an urban renewal district in 1985, and expiring in July 2008.
The park blocks underwent serious renovations in 1987, adding plazas, large flower beds, lighting and irrigation, and newly paved sidewalks.
Several apartment complexes specifically aimed at the middle class were built, including the University Park Apartments (125 units, $10.5 million, quickly sold and converted to condos), South Park Square Apartments (184 units, $16 million, completed May 1988), and Tom Mesher's Gallery Park Apartments (31 units, $3 million). In 1987, the New Theater Building of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts
Portland's Centers for the Arts (stylized as Portland'5 Centers for the Arts), formerly known as the Portland Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA), is an organization within Metro that runs venues for live theatre, concerts, cinema, small confer ...
was completed immediately next door to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (opened as the Portland Publix Theatre before becoming the Paramount Theatre after 1930) is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon, United States. Part of the Portland Center ...
. The South Park Blocks Association, a commercial and institutional association, was started at that time, to attract residents and consumers to the area and to address security concerns.
Crime
A report in 1990 said the blocks were being "held hostage" by the homeless, mainly "aggressive panhandlers, stumbling drunks, violent drug users and the unpredictable mentally ill." Reports in the mid-1990s said "Downtown Portland had become a drug supermarket", with "marijuana and LSD ... being dealt openly in the South Park Blocks," and that the South Park Blocks, especially near the Lincoln statue, were home to "The Park People", who littered, used drugs, and damaged property. Youth reported they had moved to the South Park Blocks because they had been kicked out of Pioneer Courthouse Square
Pioneer Courthouse Square, also known as Portland's living room, is a public space occupying a full city block in the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1984, the square is bounded by Southwest Morrison Street on t ...
and O'Bryant Square
Darcelle XV Plaza (formerly O'Bryant Square) is a square that was a small park and fountain at the intersection of Southwest Park Avenue and Southwest Harvey Milk Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It received the current n ...
. A child molester known as "Krusty the Troll" who preyed on homeless teens in the South Park Blocks, was charged with 79 counts of sex crimes in 1996. There was a major police sweep of the Park Blocks in 1996 for ordinances such as sitting on the Abraham Lincoln statue, marijuana possession, littering, and loud radios.
Downtown crime was down 30% from 1996 to 2003, and down 7% from 2004 to 2005. Due to crime, Mayor Tom Potter
Thomas Jay Potter (born September 12, 1940) is a former American politician and law enforcement officer in the U.S. state of Oregon. He served as Mayor of Portland from 2005 to 2009, and had been the chief of the Portland Police Bureau. As mayor ...
declared a 9 pm curfew
A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
in 2005, stating walking is allowed, but "no one will be allowed to loiter, harass visitors or use the park as their personal camp." ''The Oregonian'' stated the curfew was due to a "verbally aggressive" in the area, after the group was displaced from the Burnside Bridge
The Burnside Bridge is a 1926-built bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, carrying Burnside Street. It is the second bridge at the same site to carry that name. It was added to the National Register of ...
by the Big Pipe Project. The curfew was still in effect in February 2006, when it was spread to other downtown parks, citing the reduction in drug dealing that was occurring in the South Park Blocks.
In 2006, students from the Art Institute of Portland
The Art Institute of Portland was a for-profit art school in Portland, Oregon, which briefly operated as a non-profit institution before it closed in 2018. The school was one of a number of Art Institutes, a franchise of for-profit art colleges ...
used stencils to advertise a concert for the Oregon Food Bank
The Oregon Food Bank is a hunger relief organization based in the U.S. state of Oregon.
History
The Oregon Food Bank began as Oregon Food Share (OFS) which was founded in 1982. OFS created the first statewide foodbank network in the United Stat ...
. The students believed they were using spray chalk, but after completion, they learned they were actually using spray paint. The students were told that even temporary markings count as graffiti, and the students offered to remove the paint and apologize to businesses affected. Criminal charges were not filed.
Notable places and public art
Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...
buildings near the park include the Peter Stott Center
Viking Pavilion, attached to the Peter W. Stott Center, is a 3,094-seat multi-purpose arena located on the Portland State University campus in downtown Portland, Oregon. Viking Pavilion is home to the Portland State men's basketball, women's bas ...
, Branford Price Millar Library
The Branford Price Millar Library is the library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) ...
, Lincoln Hall, and Ladd Carriage House
The Ladd Carriage House is a building in downtown Portland, Oregon, at Broadway and Columbia. It is one of the few surviving buildings forming part of the former grand estates which once stood in the downtown core. It is listed on the National Re ...
. The Ladd Tower, Oregon Historical Society
The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is an organization that encourages and promotes the study and understanding of the history of the Oregon Country, within the broader context of U.S. history. Incorporated in 1898, the Society collects, preser ...
, Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it one of the oldest art museums on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the US. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum becam ...
, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (opened as the Portland Publix Theatre before becoming the Paramount Theatre after 1930) is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon, United States. Part of the Portland Center ...
, and the Arlington Club
The Arlington Club is a gentlemen's club, private social club organized in 1867 by 35 business and banking leaders of Portland, Oregon, Portland in the US state of Oregon. First called the Social Club and later renamed the Arlington Club, it offe ...
are also nearby.
Every block contains public art, such as '' Shemanski Fountain'' (1926), designed by Carl L. Linde
Carl L. Linde (May 21, 1864 – July 12, 1945) was an American architect based in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, particularly in Portland, Oregon. Several of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Biograp ...
, with drinking wells, including special drinking wells for dogs. Other art includes Paul Sutinen's '' In the Shadow of the Elm'' (built into the pavement), and three large blocks of granite titled '' Peace Chant'' (1984). Two large statues are in the block: a $40,000, bronze equestrian statue called '' Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider'', designed by Alexander Phimister Proctor
Alexander Phimister Proctor (September 27, 1860 – September 5, 1950) was an American sculpture, sculptor with the contemporary reputation as one of the nation's foremost animaliers.
Birth and early years
Proctor was born on September 27, ...
, commissioned by Roosevelt's personal friend and Portlander Henry Waldo Coe
Henry Waldo Coe (November 4, 1857 – February 15, 1927) was a United States frontier physician and politician.
Coe was born in Waupun, Wisconsin, to Samuel Buel Coe and his wife Mary Jane (née Cronkhite). After his education and training, ...
and added in 1922, and one of Abraham Lincoln, "facing north, slump-shouldered and pensive", added in 1928, commissioned by Coe in 1926, sculpted by George Fife Waters.
Notable residents
* Terence O'Donnell
Terence O'Donnell (1924 - 2001) was an American writer. He was born in Portland, Oregon and graduated from the University of Chicago. He resided in Portland most of his life and worked at the Oregon Historical Society. During the latter part of ...
– author
Current events
A portion of the park typically hosts the summer commencement ceremony for Portland State University students. In 2008, 550 students participated in the ceremony, and it was held rain or shine. PSU also hosts an annual Party in the Park every fall after the school year begins.
Portland Farmers Market
The primary Portland Farmers Market location, held in the South Park Blocks every Saturday from March to December attracts up to 14,000 people per weekend to the local food booths. It was originally held at Broadway and Naito beginning in 1992, but moved to the Park Blocks in 1998. A smaller market is held at the north end of the blocks on Wednesdays, and was held in Pioneer Courthouse Square until 1998.
The Saturday South Park Blocks location has been very popular, and has been credited with helping "make the city a national food destination". Beginning in March 2009, dogs were banned from the market, due to "some unfortunate incidents with dogs – tripping people, urinating on food, snatching muffins out of kids' hands". Other satellite locations still allow pets. The Saturday location was doubled in size for the 2010 season.
See also
* '' Farewell to Orpheus'' (1968–1973) by Frederic Littman
* ''Holon'' (sculpture)
*
References
External links
Portland Farmers Market
{{Authority control
1852 establishments in Oregon Territory
Parks in Portland, Oregon
Protected areas established in 1852
Urban public parks
National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon