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Photo, Print, Drawing Peninsula Park, 700 North Rosa Parks Way, Portland, Multnomah County, OR

[ Data Pages from Survey HALS OR-9  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Peninsula Park, 700 North Rosa Parks Way, Portland, Multnomah County, OR

Names

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey, creator
  • Mische, Emanuel Tillman
  • Olmsted Brothers
  • Lawrence, Ellis Fuller
  • Homeowner's Loan Corporation (HOLC)
  • Albina Art Center
  • Kaiser Shipbuilding Corporation
  • Liverpool Liz
  • Beebe, Charles F.
  • Rowe, H. S.
  • Chase, W. B.
  • Eliot, Thomas Lamb
  • Fleckenstein, Henry
  • Hawkins, Lester L.
  • Mallory, Rufus
  • Lewis, Ion
  • Meyer, J. D.
  • Olmsted, Frederick Law, Jr.
  • Olmsted, John Charles
  • Portland Rose Festival Society and Rose Festival Association
  • Friends of Peninsula Park
  • Bean, Ormond R.
  • Morgan, Robert King
  • Morgan, Annie Caesar
  • Ause, Carter W., historian
  • Stevens, Christopher M., transmitter
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 2000

Headings

  • -  rose gardens
  • -  swimming pools
  • -  recreation
  • -  play (recreation)
  • -  sports & recreation facilities
  • -  basketball courts
  • -  tennis courts
  • -  landscape architects
  • -  parks
  • -  community centers
  • -  trails & paths
  • -  gymnasiums
  • -  ponds
  • -  bandstands
  • -  segregation
  • -  Oregon--Multnomah County--Portland

Latitude / Longitude

  • 45.56824,-122.67359

Notes

  • -  2022 HALS Challenge Entry: Olmsted Landscapes
  • -  Significance: Peninsula Park is host to the first public rose garden constructed in the City of Portland, having first opened in 1913. The park swimming pool also happens to be the first public pool in the city. It is one of a few formal, turn-of-the-century gardens left in the United States. Peninsula Park was designed by notable master landscape architect Emanuel (Emil) Tillman Mische, a former employee of the Olmsted Brothers Company, as well as Portland master architect Ellis Fuller Lawrence. Mische designed the park rose garden with French features. According to the Friends of Peninsula Park Rose Garden, these French features include, "a strolling garden, classical, formal and symmetrically balanced with geometric lines, featuring an elegant fountain in the center." Additionally, the Peninsula Park Bandstand, a registered City of Portland Historic Landmark completed in 1913, was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence. Lawrence was responsible for designing the sunken garden brickwork of the Peninsula Park Rose Garden, as well as the park community center, swimming pool, and lavatory centers. The park was initially built as part of a network of similar parks originally drawn up for The Olmsted Plan of 1903. The 1903 Olmsted Plan, as part of a larger report to the City of Portland Park Board, included recommendations for the construction and improvements of parks throughout the city. Between 1908, Emanuel Mische, acting as Park Superintendent, designed and adapted a wide range of parks outlined in the 1903 Olmsted Plan, including Peninsula Park, Mt. Tabor Park, Laurelhurst Park, Columbia Park, Kenilworth Park, Sellwood Park, Ladd's Circle and Rose Garden, as well as Lents Park. Many of the parks previously mentioned are already listed on the National Register, including Ladd's Circle and Rose Garden, Mt. Tabor Park, and Laurelhurst Park. Whereas Mt. Tabor Park is an individually nominated resource, Laurelhurst Park and Ladd's Circle are registered under existing national historic districts. Construction of Peninsula Park commenced in 1909 and was eventually completed by the year 1913. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Peninsula Park's surrounding neighborhood of Piedmont was host to restrictive covenants and city zoning codes that intentionally excluded African Americans from homeownership in the area. However, from the 1940s to the 1990s, Piedmont experienced a large demographic shift as a result of a growing African-American community, additional restrictive covenants, discriminatory real estate practices, forced removal from lower Albina as a result of Urban Renewal projects, as well as redlining policies instituted by the Homeowner's Loan Corporation (HOLC). From 1964 to 1977, Peninsula Park played host to concerts and plays performed by the Albina Art Center. The Albina Art Center began as a result of then-President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty initiative, which provided funds for the creation of the Art Center at 8 NE Killingsworth Street. At its height, the Albina Arts Center had 800 paid members from across the city, providing visual arts, music, and drama courses to the community. The Albina Arts Center additionally provided cultural and intellectual resources to the growing African American community and remained an active and positive community resource until it was formally disbanded in 1977. From 1993 forward, Peninsula Park and the surrounding Piedmont area experienced further demographic shifts as the result of revitalization development and subsequent gentrification spurred on by the Albina Community Plan. From 2012 to 2021, Peninsula Park became the site of social justice protests and community organizing efforts to advocate against police brutality targeting Black citizens in Portland as well as across the nation. The first of such gatherings in the park occurred during March of 2012, in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin. The most significant of such protests occurred in the summer and early fall of 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd as well as concerns with police brutality, white supremacy, and the continued presence of white supremacists at public gatherings within city limits.
  • -  Survey number: HALS OR-9
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1913 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1903 Initial Construction

Medium

  • Data Page(s): 25

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HALS OR-9

Source Collection

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • or0661

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HALS OR-9
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
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      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, Emanuel Tillman Mische, Olmsted Brothers, Ellis Fuller Lawrence, Homeowner'S Loan Corporation, Albina Art Center, Kaiser Shipbuilding Corporation, et al. Peninsula Park, 700 North Rosa Parks Way, Portland, Multnomah County, OR. Multnomah County Portland Oregon, 2000. translateds by Stevens, Christopher M.Mitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/or0661/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, C., Mische, E. T., Olmsted Brothers, Lawrence, E. F., Homeowner'S Loan Corporation, Albina Art Center [...] Ause, C. W. (2000) Peninsula Park, 700 North Rosa Parks Way, Portland, Multnomah County, OR. Multnomah County Portland Oregon, 2000. Stevens, C. M. M. & McPartland, M., transs Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/or0661/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, et al. Peninsula Park, 700 North Rosa Parks Way, Portland, Multnomah County, OR. trans by Stevens, Christopher M.Mitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/or0661/>.