The Plaza Blocks, two courthouse squares known as Chapman Square and Lownsdale Square, are located in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States. The blocks, as well as the adjacent

Terry Schrunk Plaza Terry Schrunk Plaza is a park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Located in between the Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt Federal Building and Portland City Hall, and adjacent to the Plaza Blocks, it is owned and operated by the fe ...

, are surrounded by multiple government buildings including

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, the Green - Wyatt Federal Building, the

Portland Building The Portland Building, alternatively referenced as the Portland Municipal Services Building, is a 15-story municipal office building located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland, Oregon. Built at a cost of US$29 million, it opened in 1982 ...

, the

Multnomah County Justice Center The Multnomah County Justice Center, or simply Justice Center, is a building located at 1120 Southwest 3rd Avenue in Portland, Oregon, United States. The building was designed by ZGF Architects. It is adjacent to Plaza Blocks, Lownsdale Square in ...

, the Hatfield United States Courthouse, and the old Multnomah County Courthouse.

History

Hamilton Hotel - chapman square - Portland Oregon

The northernmost square is named after Daniel H. Lownsdale (1803—1862), a native

Kentuckian Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

who settled in Portland in 1845. The south square is named after legislator

William W. Chapman William Williams Chapman (August 11, 1808October 18, 1892) was an American politician and lawyer in Oregon and Iowa. He was born and raised in Virginia. He served as a United States Attorney in Iowa when it was part of the Michigan Territory, Mi ...

(1808–1892), a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

n who settled in Portland in 1850. Both Lownsdale and Chapman were some of Portland's first landowners. The blocks were initially segregated by gender. Lownsdale Square for men and Chapman Square, planted with a grove of female ginko trees, for women. Public speakers and preachers used the parks for their speeches. By 1900, Lownsdale Square was a gay cruising destination, allowing a degree of deniability. This activity also took place in Chapman Square by the 1950s. Evidence of the gender segregation still exists to some extent. The public men's and women's restrooms are still located in their respective blocks, and the monuments in each respective square are focused more on traditionally male vs female interests. The first

electric power transmission Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...

line in North America terminated at Chapman Square. It went online at 10:00 pm on June 3, 1889, operating at 4,000 volts of direct current, with the lines between the electric generating station at

Willamette Falls The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall in the Northwestern United States, northwestern United States, located on the Willamette River between Oregon City, Oregon, Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon. The largest waterfall in the Northwest ...

Oregon City, Oregon Oregon City is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, located on the Willamette River near the southern limits of the Portland metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 37,572. Established in 1829 ...

, and downtown Portland stretching about 13 miles. A bronze tablet in the park commemorates this achievement. The Plaza Blocks, as well as the adjacent

, are frequent hotspots for protests and civil unrest. Many people participating in the 2011

Occupy Portland Occupy Portland was a collaboration that began on October 6, 2011, in Downtown Portland, downtown Portland, Oregon, as a protest and Demonstration (people), demonstration against economic inequality worldwide. The movement was inspired by the Occ ...

protests used the parks to camp in. The 2020

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

were centered on the parks and caused significant damage to the memorials and features of the park. The damage led to the removal of the Thompson Elk Fountain and The Promised Land. The Elk Fountain is set to be replaced in 2024.

Monuments

Gallery

File:Lownsdale Square - Portland, Oregon.JPG, Lownsdale Square File:Chapman Square - Portland, Oregon.JPG, Chapman Square File:Chapman Square restroom building in downtown Portland (2016).jpg, One of the restroom buildings File:Occupy Portland November 14, Lownsdale Square after eviction.jpg, Lownsdale Square, 2011 File:Douglas Tilden’s Soldiers' Monument in Lownsdale Square. (3704168231).jpg, Top of the Spanish-American War Soldier's Monument File:Spanish American War monument, Portland (2014) - 5.jpg, One of the

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a historical Coastal defense and fortification#Sea forts, sea fort located near Charleston, South Carolina. Constructed on an artificial island at the entrance of Charleston Harbor in 1829, the fort was built in response to the W ...

Howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

s on the base of the Spanish-American War Soldier's Monument File:Occupy Portland November 9 path.jpg, Occupy Portland camp-in, 2011 File:George Floyd police brutality protests - Portland Oregon - July 22 - tedder - 03.jpg, Protest against the killing of George Floyd, 2020

References

External links

* {{Parks in Portland, Oregon Parks in Southwest Portland, Oregon