WHY WAS THIS PARK NEVER FINISHED? | The Story of Portland's Park Blocks

PATREON: www.patreon.com/exploreoregon INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/pdxfilmexplorer FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/exploringportland TIKTOK:   / stevetheamateurhistorian   The earliest part of Portland's downtown park blocks date back to the early 1850s, more than 170 years ago. This is when the land was set aside for what would become the South Park Blocks. Years later, in 1869, several blocks on the north end of town were donated to the city and became the North Park Blocks. These two stretches of green space run right through the middle of downtown but are separated by several blocks between them. Way back when these blocks were new the objective was always to connect them, creating an unending park that ran some 25 continuous blocks, but more than a century and a half later this has still not happened. In this video I do what I do in paying a visit to the park blocks and showing how they look today. Beyond that I dive into the old history of what happened and why in terms of addressing the question of why this park has never been completed.