I wanted to give Mill Ends Park its own post, even though we visited it the same day as the other Willamette waterfront parks. The reason is because it is the smallest park in the world!It is a cute little island in the middle of SW Naito Parkway at the intersection of SW Taylor Street. Just 2 feet in diameter, it was easily hidden behind the Rose Festival Entry sign.
On the information marker sign, located on the sidewalk 38 feet west of the park, it reads:From his office on the second floor of the old Oregon Journal building, journalist Dick Fagen (1911-1969) periodically gazed down on the busy Front Avenue thoroughfare. It was his keen imagination that turned a utility pole hole, in the avenue's median strip at Taylor Street, into "Mill Ends Park". The Guiness Book of World Records lists it as the world's smallest Park. It is twenty-four inches in diameter, and contains 452.16 square inches of land. In his "Mill Ends" column in the Oregon Journal, Fagan described a variety of events occurring in the Park, which were presided over by Patrick O'Toole, head Leprechaun residing in the Park. Weddings and other celebrations have taken place at Mill Ends, and on St. Patrick's Day, 1976, the site was dedicated as an official Park of the City of Portland.
More photos here.Related posts:
Westmoreland Park, Rocky Butte, Kelley Point Park, Hoyt Arboretum, Glendoveer Fitness Trail, Waterfront Park & Eastbank Esplanade
Glad to see people still enjoy my grandfather's park enough to write about it. His passion for writing lives on through others, who find the park special enough to put words to it.
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