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Water Front Park, Portland
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Water Front Park, Portland

Water Front Park - Portland
Water Front Park
by aquatic
Water Front Park tips and photos posted by real travelers and Portland locals.

Waterfront Park
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• 24 Reviews

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Portland Water Front Park Reviews 1 - 10 of 24  
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Water Front Park: in A Clean River
  • Tip Rating:
    • machomikemd
  • Updated By machomikemd on October 2, 2008
  • Portland Page by machomikemd
    • nice views - Portland
    nice views
    by machomikemd
    Portland is famous because of the Rose Festival and it is commemorated here at the Watefront Park. This is like what venice beach is to los angeles so the center of festivals, event, parties, etc in the portland area is here. there are also restaurants, bars and shopping areas in it so you can enjoy the atmosphere.

  • Phone: (503) 823-7529
  • Directions: 1020 SW Naito Pkwy, Portland, OR 97204
  • Website: www.portlandonline.com
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    Water Front Park: GOVERNOR TOM MCCALL WATERFRONT PARK
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • Cherry trees and benches in Waterfront Park - Portland
    Cherry trees and benches
    in Waterfront Park
    by mtncorg
    Sometimes urban renewal works, sometimes it doesn't. Here, the long held dreams of reuniting the City with the Willamette River have come to a very successful fruition. In the 1920's a seawall was built along the river's west bank to provide flood protection for the downtown area. Along the riverfront a large Market Building used to dominate the scene. The market failed over time and the building became home to one of the City's two newspapers (that paper has since been sold and incorporated into the one and only Oregonian). A long the seawall, used to run Harbor Drive, a very busy street. Harbor Drive was not as important a street after the State Transportation Department installed the Eastbank Freeway. So, in 1974, Harbor Drive was torn up, the Journal Building was demolished and the area between Front and Harbor became the 37-acre Waterfront Park, renamed after the popular governor who put the forces in place.

    The Park is a vast public open space that serves as a center for many festivals - including the Rose Festival - in the warmer months. A huge sewer project is underway at present at two ends of the Park - ongoing till 2006. Upon completion some changes are in store for the Park that serves as Portland's living room. Walkers, joggers, bicyclists all enjoy the vast promenade above the River along the sea wall. Up close views of many of Portland's bridges are afforded. At the north end of the Park is the Japanese-American Memorial - in memory of those Japanese-Americans who were interred during WWII. At the south end of the Park, is another product of urban change, the RiverPlace district. Walking the Westbank Promenade, you can link over to the Eastbank Esplanade via the Hawthorne and Steel Bridges and make a pleasant three-mile walk.

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: www.parks.ci.portland.or.us/Parks/TomMcCallWaterfront.htm
    • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Water Front Park: CHERRY TREES
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • Steel Bridge rises above Japanese cherry trees - Portland
    Steel Bridge rises above
    Japanese cherry trees
    by mtncorg
    Over one hundred ornamental cherry trees surround the Japanese American Historical Plaza giving a wonderful impression in early spring or mid fall. One of Portland’s longtime Sister Cities is Sapporo, Japan. There is a strong link between both America and Japan here in Portland – a link commemorated here.

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: www.parks/ci.portland.or.us/Parks/JapanesAmHstPlaza.htm
    • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Water Front Park: BURNSIDE BRIDGE
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • Italinate towers of the Burnside Bridge - Portland
    Italinate towers of the
    Burnside Bridge
    by mtncorg
    The older of the two inner city double-leaf bascule drawspans, the Burnside Bridge was built in 1926 replacing an older 1896 structure. One of the designers involved was Joseph Strauss, better known as the bridge designer for San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. The Burnside Bridge is the only bridge designed with the help of an architect, which maybe explain the Italian Renaissance-inspired bridge towers. Busy Burnside Street crosses the bridge serving to separate the City on a north - south axis. Streets to the north are either northwest or southwest (or north in one smaller region of the City) and to the south are either southwest or southeast - the Willamette River serving as the east-west axis.

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: www.co.multnomah.or.us/bridge/burnside_bridge/index.shtml
    • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Water Front Park: PORTLAND SPIRIT
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • Updated By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • The spirit awaits passengers - Hawthorne Br beyond - Portland
    The spirit awaits passengers -
    Hawthorne Br beyond
    by mtncorg
    Visitors might like to experience Portland from the waters of the Willamette, itself. Several tour boats take guests – mostly in the warmer months – on a series of different cruises – sightseeing, dinner, partying. The Portland Spirit is one of the larger vessels and is docked next to the Salmon Street Springs on the westbank near the Hawthorne Bridge. Other tour boats include the Portland Rose Sternwheeler and a couple of jet boats that had earlier lives on the waters of the Rogue River in southwestern Oregon.

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: http://www.portlandspirit.com/
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    Water Front Park: BATTLESHIP OREGON MEMORIAL
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • Mainmast of BB Oregon still standing proud - Portland
    Mainmast of BB Oregon
    still standing proud
    by mtncorg
    Located in Waterfront Park opposite the Oregon Maritime Museum, the mainmast of the USS Oregon, one of America's first battleships, is all that remains of this historic ship. The ship was found glory during the Spanish-American War of 1899 when it broke the record for transiting from the Pacific to the Atlantic - a time that was still so long that it underscored the need to develop a trans-isthmus canal in Central America. The Oregon made it to Cuba in time for the Battle of Santiago Bay in which the Spanish fleet was destroyed outside of the entrance to Guantanamo Bay. The Oregon had been restored as a museum berthed along the Willamette River for many years following it’s decommission at the end of WWI. With the dramatic entrance of the US into WWII, the Oregon governor offered the museum ship to the US Navy with the misguided thought that the Navy would be able to use the ship in the War against Japan. The ship was far to outdated to be of service to the Navy. Not sure what to do with the gift, the Navy began operations to scrap the ship. When it was learned that the Navy was scrapping the ship - the only one of its era left - the 'gift' was rescinded, but it was too late. The only part left is here.

    For more on the history of 'McKinley's Bulldog', see
    http://members.tripod.com/~ussoregon/MainMenu.html

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: http://members.tripod.com/~ussoregon/MainMenu.html
    • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Water Front Park: JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL PLAZA
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • Stones record emotional thoughts of times past - Portland
    Stones record emotional
    thoughts of times past
    by mtncorg
    Dedicated in 1990 to the memory of all Japanese Americans who suffered inland internment during WWII because of fears that these people would help potential invading Japanese forces. The garden and artwork is at the north end of Waterfront Park next to the west end of the Steel Bridge. See my TL for more on this unique Park.

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: www.parks/ci.portland.or.us/Parks/JapanesAmHstPlaza.htm
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    Water Front Park: MORRISON BRIDGE
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • Minimalist towers and huge bridge fenders - Portland
    Minimalist towers and huge
    bridge fenders
    by mtncorg
    Replacing two earlier bridges, the Morrison was completed in 1958 with minimalist architecture in mind. The bridge is a very busy conduit into the central city - some 50000 vehicles a day. Like the Burnside Bridge, the Morrison is a double-leaf bascule draw span - opening about 30 times a month on average. It makes an interesting counterpoint to its neighbor - the Burnside - to the north.

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: www.co.multnomah.or.us/bridge/morrison_bridge/morrinfo.html
    • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Water Front Park: HAWTHORNE BRIDGE
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • Hawthorne Bridge into downtown - Portland
    Hawthorne Bridge into downtown
    by mtncorg
    Owned by Multnomah County - as are six of Portland’s other Bridges - this is the City's oldest, dating back to 1910. The bridge features a 244-foot steel through truss vertical lift span, which can lift 110 feet. The Hawthorne Bridge has undergone several major modifications during its lifetime, the most recent during 1999. The bridge serves the heart of the central business district and provides a dramatic foreground to the city towers beyond, when viewed from the eastbank. The bridge is also one of the lower bridges, which means that the lift operation gets to be operated on a more frequent basis.

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: www.co.multnomah.or.us/bridge/hawthorne_bridge/index.shtml
    • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Water Front Park: SEAWALL
  • Tip Rating:
    • mtncorg
  • By mtncorg on November 16, 2004
  • Portland Page by mtncorg
    • Pigeons rest along the top of the seawall - Portland
    Pigeons rest along the top of
    the seawall
    by mtncorg
    Wander along the riverside boundary of Waterfront Park and you walk along the edge of a seawall built in the 1920’s to provide flood protection to the central business district. For the one and only time since the seawall was erected, in 1996, a huge plywood/sandbag wall was erected atop the seawall, during the height of a huge flood that threatened to top the wall.

    The seawall is also the home of the huge Rose Festival fleet, a centerpiece for the Rose Festival week. A literal fleet of American and Canadian vessels berthed along the wall. Post 9/11 fears of terrorism and sabotage have severely diminished the numbers of vessels visiting in early June. The huge black bollards along the wall belie the docking opportunities still presented by the Rose City.

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  • Directions: Along Front Street
  • Website: www.parks.ci.portland.or.us/Parks/ TomMcCallWaterfront.htm
    • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
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