Exploring Portland’s Pearl District

The Pearl District was once an industrial area filled with warehouses and railroad yards, but in the mid 1980s a transformation began which turned the neighborhood into a trendy area with apartments, condos, art galleries, restaurants and pretty parks.

We moved here in November after our nearly 3 year sojourn in France. Our Portland residence is a world away from our charming, 230 year old cottage in Normandie (the French spelling of this lovely region).

Regular readers may remember this photo of our belongings that we shipped from France.

They arrived right on time here in Portland, and our wonderful daughter stopped by to help us get unpacked and settled.

Once settled, we were anxious to explore our new neighborhood, so daily walks were essential. We’ve enjoyed many long walks and have stopped at shops, restaurants and coffee shops to get to know our neighbors.

Just a short distance from our place is Tanner Springs Park, a local gem with so much packed into just one city block. The park is named for Daniel Lownsdale, one of the founders of Portland. He built a tannery along the creek here in the late 1800s; thus the name.

This former contaminated industrial area has been cleaned up and is now a thriving ecosystem. It is quite creative how the designers incorporated salvaged historic items from locations throughout Oregon in designing the park. This fence was made from 19th century railroad tracks.

The paths in the park are made from Belgium basalt blocks used as ballasts on ships that traveled along the Columbia River.

Rainwater that falls here (we get a lot here in the PNW!) is collected in a cistern, filtered and treated with an ultra-violet light system before it flows down to the pond.

Rainwater is also collected by a Rainwater Pavilion and then channeled into the pond. It was created in memory of Graham Stewart Clark, one of the city planners involved in creating the Pearl District.

There are lots of tiny fish in the pond which is also home to some ducks.

The water lilies are at their best at the moment.

Many other plants and flowers thrive in the park as well.

We thoroughly enjoy this little park in our neighborhood. We visit often so we can see how the plants and animals grow and change over time.

I have more to share from the Pearl District, and other locations throughout Oregon in the coming weeks. Oregon is filled with beautiful and interesting locations that I am eager to share with you.

Check out theTravelsketcher’s recent post (click here) about our time in France, the wonderful friends we have there and our move to the US.

As always, I would love to hear from you and your thoughts on this lively Portland Neighborhood.

I hope you enjoy a nice walk in your neighborhood today.

Tricia