South Park Blocks Tours and Activities

Park Avenue in downtown Portland has long parks at each end – the largest is at the south end, appropriately called the South Park Blocks.The area runs 12 blocks from SW Jackson St. north to SW Salmon St., and are one block wide along Park Avenue. The street is split into two one-way lanes, with the park filling the block in between. The South Park Blocks make up a central part of Portland State University's campus, and the park is the setting for a popular farmer's market from March through December.

There is a variety of public art on display throughout the park, with a different piece of art on every block. Among the artwork is a 1922 equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt, a 1926 statue of Abraham Lincoln, and a 1926 fountain that includes a drinking fountain for dogs.

The South Park Blocks have been a public park since the city was originally drafted in the 1840s-1850s, and the park was the first official greenspace in the new city.