Printing Press Park
While wandering around downtown in the sun the other day, I noticed a funny thing at the corner of SW 1st and Morrison. There, on a tiny corner of land next to the Morrison Bridge onramp, are six plaques and a little patch of grass.
A cheesy sign proudly proclaims “Printing Press Park,” but to call it a park in the traditional sense would be quite a stretch. It appears that this was the site of the Oregonian’s first printing press. The plaques are made to look like press plates and show the O’s reaction to the end of WWI, the end of WWII, JFK’s assassination, the moon landing, and Mt. St. Helens big day. There are more photos in the extended. Printing Press Park may be a pathetic excuse for a park, but It’s certainly better than the concrete alternative; one of those little things that make downtown so livable. What’s your favorite bit of superfluous / amusing public spending around town?
In other Oregonian-related news, they seem to have gone and gotten themselves a flickr account.
The Willamette Stone State Heritage Site is pretty neat. You know, if you’re into maps and such.
I’m familiar with the site and rather like
it. I’d like to know if the City maintains a master list or database of these kinds of sites
which is available to the public.
I just read on the San Jose blog about a
honeybee plaque/memorial – or whatever the
right term is – placed by the State of
California somewhere around here. Apparently these sites are serially numbered, suggesting that records of these things are kept.
If you drive a bit past Jackson Middle School
(I forget the name or number of the road) on
the way uphill toward the back side of Mountain Park, there is (or was) a memorial to (as I
recall – I haven’t been by it in years) a
slain Multnomah County Deputy Sheriff. It’s
really small and was always looking overgrown
and trashy. I hate that.