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The City of Portland, Oregon

Portland Parks & Recreation

Healthy Parks, Healthy Portland

Phone: 503-823-7529

1120 SW Fifth Avenue, Portland, OR 97204

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Westmoreland Park Historical Information

  • 1937 - Westmoreland Park under construction - photo courtesy Oregon Historical Society

  • 1937 - 99E Super Highway (McLoughlin Blvd) looking south from the Bybee Blvd bridge - photo courtesy Sellwood Moreland Historical Society

  • 1939, Aug 3 - Westmoreland Park Casting Pond under construction - photo courtesy City of Portland Archives

  • 1939, Sept 29 - Westmoreland Casting Pond under construction - photo courtesy City of Portland Archives

  • 1950s - Westmoreland Park aerial showing the Bybee Bridge, pond, Johnson Creek and the casting pond - photo courtesy ODOT

  • 1950s - aerial photo of Westmoreland Park - photo courtesy ODOT

This webpage celebrates the unique history of Westmoreland Park and the neighborhoods that surround it with select historic photographs, video of actual park construction in 1939, park plans, and historic newspaper articles. The Westmoreland Park site was purchased by the City of Portland in 1936 and was constructed as a collaboration between the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the City of Portland between 1936 and 1939. The Oregon State Level Historical Documentation provides additional detail on the development of the park, including the wading pool/duck pond, initially developed as a model yacht lagoon in 1936, that was removed in 2013 to facilitate the restoration of the Crystal Springs Creek wetland in the northwest corner of the park. 

 

Short video of construction at Westmoreland Park, circa 1939 - Oregon Historical Society