Mill Ends Park, the smallest park in the world

Mill Ends Park in Portland, Oregon, United States, is a small park that was created on St. Patrick's Day, 1948, to be a colony for leprechauns and a location for snail races. It is the smallest park in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, which first granted it this recognition in 1971. The "park" is a circle two feet (610 mm) across (with a total area of 452 in² (0.2916 m²) in a traffic median which in 1948 was intended to be the site for a light pole. When the pole failed to appear and weeds sprouted in the opening, Dick Fagan, a columnist for the Oregon Journal, planted flowers in the hole and named it after his column in the paper, "Mill Ends". (Fagan's office in the Journal building overlooked the median in the middle of the busy thoroughfare that ran in front of the building and was then known as SW Front Avenue.) Image File history File links Mill Ends Park, Portland, Oregon File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Mill Ends Park, Portland, Oregon File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Nickname: Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: , Country United States State Oregon County Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Government  - Mayor Tom Potter Area  - City 376. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... St. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ... The Oregon Journal was Portland, Oregons daily afternoon newspaper from 1902 to 1982. ...

Fagan told the story of the park's origin as follows:^{[citation needed]} He looked out the window and spotted a leprechaun digging in the hole. He ran down and grabbed the leprechaun, which meant that he had earned a wish. Fagan said he wished for a park of his own; but since he had not specified the size of the park in his wish, the leprechaun gave him the hole. Over the next two decades, Fagan often featured the park and its head leprechaun, named Patrick O'Toole, in his whimsical column. In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (Modern Irish: leipreachán) is a type of male faerie said to inhabit the island of Ireland. ...

Fagan died of cancer in 1969, but the park lived on, cared for by others. It was named an official city park in 1976. Mill Ends Park is located at SW Naito Parkway and SW Taylor in downtown Portland.

The small circle has featured many unusual items through the decades, including a swimming pool for butterflies (complete with diving board), a horseshoe, a fragment of the Journal building and a miniature Ferris wheel (which was delivered by a regular-sized crane). A Ferris wheel on the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey, USA. A Ferris wheel (or, more commonly in the UK, big wheel) is a nonbuilding structure consisting of an upright wheel with passenger gondolas suspended from the rim. ...

In February 2006, the park was temporarily relocated during road construction to a planter outside the World Trade Center Portland Building Two, about 80 feet from its proper location. It was returned to its home (now named SW Naito Parkway) on March 16, 2007.^[1][2] World trade centers or world trade centres (usually abbreviated WTC) arose in the United States and Japan in the 1970s, spearheaded by New York Citys World Trade Center. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year (76th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

See also

• Waldo Park, another small park consisting of a tree, located in nearby Salem.

Waldo Park is a municipal park, located in downtown Salem, Oregon. ... Nickname: Location in Marion and Polk Counties, state of Oregon Coordinates: , County Founded 1842 Government  - Mayor Janet Taylor Area  - City 120. ...

References

This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

• "Oregon". World Book. (1994). USA: World Book, Inc. ISBN 0-7166-0094-3. 

is the 74th day of the year (75th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 74th day of the year (75th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A Portland Tribune news stand The Portland Tribune is a free newspaper published twice weekly (Tuesdays and Fridays) in Portland, Oregon. ... is the 236th day of the year (237th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

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• Portland Parks on Mill Ends Park
• World Record Holder Mill Ends Park is the Tiniest Park in the World (from Associated Content)
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