I popped into Powell's Books the other day while I waited for a friend and I came upon a book that tells the history of Portland's South Park Blocks. Although I wasn't looking for this book consciously nor did I know it existed, in a way, it found me.
What's amazing about this book is that it has everything to do with my terminal thesis project site. Currently, its a surface parking lot and I haven't been able to find out much about the previous developments. The only trail left behind is this giant sycamore tree at the corner of sw 9th and main that's designated as a Portland Heritage Tree.
Native to Canada, Sylvester Farrel and his wife Honora came to Portland from San Francisco near 1867. Sylvester was a businessman who initially worked in the grain trade and then later took up interests in logging. He built an Italianate styled house which he later added another floor and with a gabled roof.
Sylvester Farrell was a distinguished man in Portland. He served as a city councilman, a member of the fire commission, and as a member of the state legislature.
About the tree, the story goes that Sylvester was given five of these Sycamore trees as a gift from US Senator from Oregon, J.N. Dolph. Only one was planted at the corner and the other four were said to be given away. The tree was designated as a city landmark in 1973.
The house was removed from the site in 1941 and become a gas station on the one condition that the tree remained.
It's exciting to learn so much about a place especially when nothing but a tree remains.
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