Laurelhurst Park
| Laurelhurst Park | |
|---|---|
Firwood Lake at Laurelhurst Park in March 2008
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| Type | Urban park |
| Location | SE César E. Chávez Blvd. and Stark St. Portland, Oregon |
| Coordinates | 45°31′17″N 122°37′35″W / 45.52139°N 122.62639°WCoordinates: 45°31′17″N 122°37′35″W / 45.52139°N 122.62639°W |
| Area | 26.81 acres (10.85 ha) |
| Operated by | Portland Parks & Recreation |
| Status |
Open 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily |
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Portland Historic Landmark
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| Built | 1909 |
| MPS | City Beautiful Movement and Civic Planning in Portland, Oregon MPS |
| NRHP reference # | 01000134 |
| Added to NRHP | February 16, 2001 |
Open 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily
Laurelhurst Park is a city park in the neighborhood of Laurelhurst in Portland, Oregon. The 26.81-acre (10.85 ha) park was acquired in 1909 from the estate of former Portland mayor William S. Ladd. The City of Portland purchased the land in 1911, and the following year park superintendent Emanuel Mische designed the park in accordance with the Olmsted Plan.
In 1919, the Pacific Coast Parks Association named Laurelhurst Park the "most beautiful park" on the West Coast, and in February 2001 it was the first city park ever to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The park costs the city approximately $274,000 per year to maintain.
In 1909, the land that would later become Laurelhurst Park was purchased from the estate of William S. Ladd, the former Portland mayor who developed Ladd's Addition. The tract of land, part of a larger parcel Ladd used to generate "one of the most prestigious stock farms in the West", later became too valuable for agricultural use. The City of Portland purchased the land in 1911 with the hope of establishing a park in accordance with the Olmsted Plan. Emanuel Mische, Portland's park superintendent from 1908 to 1914, designed the park in 1912 with experience he acquired as a longtime horticultural "expert" for the Olmsted Brothers landscape design firm. Mische was guided by the firm's natural approach to landscaping and created seven distinct areas: the concert grove, Firwood Lake, children's lawn, plateau and broad meadows, picnic grove, and Rhododendron Hill. A spring-fed pond once used as a watering hole for cattle was deepened into a 3-acre (1.2 ha) lake. A "play park" was established between Oak and Stark Streets; here boys could play on the south side while girls played on the north side, and general games could be held on the east side. A comfort station building was built in 1914, and the following year a series of paths and sidewalks were lit by electric lights.
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