Portland Walking Tour:: Arts, Sustainability and Culture Tour
Times: 10:00am
Days: M, W, F
Start: Multnomah County Library
Cost: $24/person ($15 for Groups 6+)
Experience Portland guilt-free by seeing her sights and not using fossil fuels to do it! This Urban hike celebrates the great diversity found in Portland’s downtown area, the historical importance it has played in the state’s history and the fast-growing culture that exists on the motto of trying to Keep Portland Weird! So put on your walking shoes, fill your water bottles, grab your cameras, and get ready for an urban adventure that will make you happy we left your car behind!
Enjoy the Eco-Friendly way with a fun and invigorating walking tour that takes you to the places and landmarks that characterize the Rose City’s past, present, and future. This eco-friendly tour walks through some of Portland’s most important buildings, alleyways, city parks and gardens. Gain some insight into Portland’s brilliant city planners and the vision they have been working on since the early 1960’s which includes public art, transit, and overall quality of life.
Highlights Includes
• “The Portland Plan”: A vision for the city that began in the mid 1970’s. Because of our savvy city planners we have one of the most livable cities in the U.S. As early as 1960 we have been thinking about elements that make for great livability, such as public-transit, art, and open spaces. The greatest momentum for this vision was seen in the 70’s.
• Portland is one of the Greenest Cities in the U.S. The list is long when it comes to green though we will see evidence of some of the following: Public Transit, waste management, clean water, open spaces, energy, LEED buildings and more.
• Historic Architecture. We will point out and discuss some of the diverse architecture in Portland from historic antiques, post-modern examples and updated, modern gems.
MULTNOMAH COUNTY LIBRARY
History: Mercantile Library Association was started on January 12, 1864, with subscriptions by Portland’s merchant elite. On March 10, 1902, the library became a tax-supported free public library; open to all residents of Portland.
Governor Hotel Built in 1909, the glazed terracotta building’s moAtif features a blending of art nouveau and Native American designs and is on the national registry of historic places. The architect, William C. Knighton, went on to become the first Oregon State Architect in 1912, and later designed the Oregon State Supreme Court Building. Point out “Robots”.
Food Carts: 431 registered food carts in Multnomah County, 33 pending applications (as of Jan 2011). These “Pods” are located all over Portland. Speaks to Portland’s love affair with food and to the entrepreneurial spirit.
PEARL DISTRICT AND POWELL’S BOOKS
History of the Pearl District: In the mid 1990’s galleries began to pop up in the area (especially along 13th ave) though mostly unbeknownst to the general public. A locally gallery owner and columnist suggested that the artists and their works were like pearls in the encrusted shells of the warehouses.
U.S. Bank: (A.E. Doyle) One of the fancier buildings in Portland. The magnificent design and attention to detail was essentially a marketing/branding campaign to instill faith in its customers by embodying “A soaring power of finance in a wealthy civilization”.
PIONEER COURTHOUSE SQUARE
History: The square is named after the Pioneer Courthouse, an 1875 federal building occupying the block directly east of the square. The square itself dates back to 1856, when the city purchased land which included the site as the location for Central School. The school was moved in 1883 when plans were made for a major hotel on the site in response to the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway. After delays due to a recession, the eight-story Portland Hotel was completed on the site in 1890.
Weather Vane: The Weather Machine, a 33-foot tall metal column topped with a large silver-colored orb, was installed in August 1988. At noon each day, the following day’s weather is announced with a fanfare of trumpets, flashing lights, and a spray of mist. Light bulbs on the side of the machine are reminiscent of a mercury thermometer and light up progressively as the temperature increases.
The orb opens to reveal one of the following:
o Helia:a golden leaf sun, for a clear day;
o Blue Heron: to forecast a drizzly, misty, or overcast day;
o Dragon: an open-mouthed copper dragon, when storms are forecast.
Big Belly Solar Compactor: The world’s first integrated system that uses renewable power and information technology to dramatically lower the operating costs, fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the waste collection process by 80%. Trash is compacted using solar electricity and sensors tell management facility when it is time to be emptied.
DIRECTORS PARK
History: The site was once a surface parking lot. It was donated to the city by visionary philanthropist Tom Moyer along with $1 million toward construction of a park. Moyer’s and Schnitzer’s magnanimous gifts, in partnership with the Foundation and the City of Portland, have created a new gathering place.
Portland Sewer Overhaul: Almost every time it rains, Portland’s combined sewers overflow into the Willamette River. Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) carry raw sewage that pollutes water and threatens our quality of life.
Bull Run Water Shed: Bull Run is 102 sq mile restricted area located 26 miles east of Portland between Mt. Hood and the Gorge. With an average of 130 inches of rain each year it acts as the primary source for municipal drinking water.
Portlandia: 35ft copper hammered statue, second largest (Statue of Liberty is #1). Sculpted by Raymond Kaskey in 1985 specifically for the Portland Building. Image used from the City of Portland’s city seal.
City Hall: 1895 Renaissance Revival. Structure has one of the state’s first steel frames, elevators and forced air heat. Garden in front represents Portland’s contribution to the urban farming movement with the “Food not Lawns” campaign.
Electric Car Charging Station: America’s first electric car dealership, Ecogeek located in Portland Oregon. Oregon became the first state to develop standards for a statewide infrastructure of electric-car plug-in stations in terms of performance, safety, and voltage.
Mills End Park: Smallest park in the world. Dedicated in 1946 by Dick Fagan who tended to the small plot of dirt and wrote about it in his Oregon Journal Column.
Waterfront Esplanade and Hawthorne Bridge
Willamette River: Clackamas Indian name, 187 miles long, flows north, max depth around Portland is 130 feet with average of 65 feet, superfund site (federally identified as polluted to the point of human harm) in the city, drinking water for outside of city.
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (1944, current site 1992)
Contains hands-on exhibits about natural sciences, arts, technologies and living lifestyles.
Includes Planetarium, OMNIMAX theatre
USS Blueback (SS-581) in front of museum 1994 after OMSI purchased it in 1990. It was used in the filming of A Hunt for Red October, is open for daily tours, the propeller has been removed and is now a National Submarine Memorial.
Vera Katz East Bank Esplanade
1996 flood wiped out the I-5 bike corridor, in effort of urban planning and development it was upgraded and turned into a bike/pedestrian only path. Connects to spring water Corridor. The 1200 foot floating walk/bike way is the longest of its kind in the U.S.
Vera Katz; first female speaker for Oregon House of Representatives, grew up in New York born in Germany (Fled Germany during WWII).
The bridges of Bridge Town.
John Alexander Low Waddell, inventor of the vertical lift bridge.
10 bridges all together cross the Willamette near Portland downtown area. Highlight the bridges in sight as you walk north along the river, stop at Burnside Bridge and go west through Saturday Market and Skidmore Fountain.
Marquam Bridge: October 1966, 14 million. Busiest bridge in Oregon, 3rd longest tress bridge in North America, built for use not for sight; linked I-5 corridor between Oregon and Washington. Named after a judge who was later elected to the Oregon legislature, Phillip A. Marquam.
Hawthorne Bridge: opened December 19, 1990, $500,000, vertical lift bridge, world’s oldest lift bridge, designed by Waddell, Named after Dr J.C. Hawthorne (founder of the Oregon Hospital for the Insane. Street was originally called Asylum Street but changed shortly after when the hospital moved to Salem).
Morrison Bridge: opened May 1958, 12.9 million, drawbridge. Named after John L. Morrison, a Scottish Immigrant who served as a lieutenant in the Oregon Rangers.
Burnside Bridge: May 1926, 3 million, draw bridge. Rose parade crosses on Burnside. Named after a guy from Vermont named Dan Wyman Burnside who was a rich business man who helped raise funds to have the Willamette dredged in 1866.
While at Burnside Bridge talk about the following bridges, big pipe, Japanese American Historical Plaza and Saturday Market
Steele Bridge: July 1912 open to trains, August 1912 open to cars, 1.7 million, Union Pacific Railway owns the lower section, State of Oregon owns the upper section. Upper deck runs cars and max (used to run the original Trollyes before the 19th century decline of trolley use) since an upgrade in 1986. Recently, a pedestrian/bike path was added that connects the floating sidewalk on the east side. Named after the original steel bridge that was made out of steel.
Broadway bridge: April 1913, 1.6 million, longest drawbridge in Portland, and when built was longest in the world. Named after the street it connects.
Freemont Bridge: November 1973, 82 million, newest bridge to span the river, America’s longest tied arch bridge. Named after John Charles Freemont, an explorer and army officer, Republican candidate, anti-slavery.
Big Pipe project was major effort to drastically reduce the combined sewer overflow into the river. It is three pipes, about 15 miles long that connect and collect sewer overflow. It redirects the flow to a treatment plant instead of letting it run into the river. Expected completion is 2011 when they (State of Oregon and City of Portland) expect to reduce the overflow by 94%.
Japanese American Historical Plaza; Old Japan Town, 12 blocks of business including bath houses, grocery stores and theatre. These rocks are to represent the plight of the Japanese American during WWII.
Stop at Skidmore Fountain
Saturday Market, local artists bring their wares to sell. Must be from Oregon or Washington, handmade in order to be in the local section. International section, food court. New structure for vendors being built and projected to be done this summer.
Old Town; the city’s core.
Skidmore Fountain
Grand Opening, 1888. Henry Weinhard wanted to fill the fountain with beer…but didn’t happen.
Oldest public art work. Donated in 1888, Skidmore was a druggist.
Dan and Louis Oyster Bar. Opened in 1907 by Yaquina Bay oyster farmer, Wachsmuth.
Walk on Ankeny towards 4th avenue. Enter China Town under gates, stop at gates.
VooDoo donuts: known for its unusual doughnuts, the eclectic decor of its shops and its iconic pink boxes which feature the company’s logo and drawings of voodoo priests.
China Town
Chinese Classical Gardens opened in 2000. Built by 65 workers from Suzhou.
Owajimaya plans to open a store, underground parking, mixed income apartments and other small retailers.
Explore the Chinese Classical Gardens. Then continue west on Everette until Park. Turn south until Davis. On 9th and Davis is Pearl Bakery, Quintana Gallery and Fuller’s Restaurant.
9/Davis
Pearl Bakery is a sustainable bakery.
Quintana Gallery specializes in antique and contemporary Northwest Coastal Indian art as well as works from various North American Natives.
Fuller’s Restaurant has been open since 1941
Walk south on 9th, turn west on Couch. Stop at corner and talk about Powell’s and the Armory
Powell’s Bookstore
Seven different locations around the metro area
Claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world.
Open 365 days of the year 9am-11pm
Owned and operated by the same family, Walter Powell in Chicago Illinois.
Portland Center Backstage Tour: Learn about what it takes to put together a professional theater production. If possible our guide or theater professionals will take you on a virtual tour through there state-of-the-art facility, giving you an in-depth look at how we create costumes, sets and new worlds onstage. Learn facts about professional actors, the rehearsal timeline, costume design, creating wigs, props, building sets and other professional theater “fun” facts.
In addition, we have expanded our tours to offer some information on the representation of cultural diversity in the state of Oregon. Throughout the year America’s Hub World Tours will continue to expand to include Asian, Japanese, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Hispanic and more information about cultural groups and their importance in the state of Oregon.
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For more details about the itinerary contact us at 1-800-637-3110
Group Rates: Group rates for 6 or more people available for most tours.
Customized and Private Tours: All tours can be customized and/or made private. Please contact us for details and pricing.
Tour Price Includes: tour guide and all applicable fees, unless otherwise stated. Lunch and Gratuity NOT included.
Requirements: Tours require 4 person minimum for confirmation. Please contact us for current status of tour.
Payment: On-line reservations can be made using a credit or debit card. Payment will be processed immediately to secure your reservation. Payment on day of pick up will not guarantee your reservation.
