Mill Ends Park
Mill Ends Park in Portland, Oregon, United States, is a small park that was created on St. Patrick's Day, 1948, to be a colony for leprechauns and a location for snail races. It is the smallest park in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, which first granted it this recognition in 1971. The "park" is a circle two feet (610 mm) across (with a total area of 452 in2 (0.2916 m²) in a traffic median which in 1948 was intended to be the site for a light pole. When the pole failed to appear and weeds sprouted in the opening, Dick Fagan, a columnist for the Oregon Journal, planted flowers in the hole and named it after his column in the paper, "Mill Ends". (Fagan's office in the Journal building overlooked the median in the middle of the busy thoroughfare that ran in front of the building and was then known as SW Front Avenue.)
Fagan told the story of the park's origin as follows:[citation needed] He looked out the window and spotted a leprechaun digging in the hole. He ran down and grabbed the leprechaun, which meant that he had earned a wish. Fagan said he wished for a park of his own; but since he had not specified the size of the park in his wish, the leprechaun gave him the hole. Over the next two decades, Fagan often featured the park and its head leprechaun, named Patrick O'Toole, in his whimsical column.
Fagan died of cancer in 1969, but the park lived on, cared for by others. It was named an official city park in 1976. Mill Ends Park is located at SW Naito Parkway and SW Taylor in downtown Portland.
The small circle has featured many unusual items through the decades, including a swimming pool for butterflies (complete with diving board), a horseshoe, a fragment of the Journal building and a miniature Ferris wheel (which was delivered by a regular-sized crane).
In February 2006, the park was temporarily relocated during road construction to a planter outside the World Trade Center Portland Building Two, about 80 feet from its proper location. It was returned to its home (now named SW Naito Parkway) on March 162007.[1][2]
See also
- Waldo Park, another small park consisting of a tree, located in nearby Salem.
References
- ^ Hayes, Chatten (March 152007). "It's a big occasion for tiniest park on planet". inPortland magazine. The Oregonian. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Stumptown Stumper". Portland Tribune. August 24, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
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 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. |
- "Oregon". World Book. USA: World Book, Inc. 1994. ISBN 0-7166-0094-3.
External links
- Portland Parks on Mill Ends Park
- World Record Holder Mill Ends Park is the Tiniest Park in the World (from Associated Content)