If you haven’t walked up to Eagle Point in awhile, or if you don’t know where it is…....
Have we got something to show you.
The Walpole Garden, a collaboration with our partners at Portland Parks and Recreation, is named after the noted American botanical illustrator Frederick Andrews Walpole who built a house at Eagle Point (300 ft to the north of the garden) in 1895. We are gradually planting many of the native plants he illustrated for the US Botanical Garden before his untimely death of typhoid in 1905.
The Olmsted Brother’s Portland parks master plan is contained in the “Report of the Park Board, Portland, Oregon, 1903”. This report called for a “South Hillside Parkway” which eventually became Terwilliger Parkway 9 years later.
A few years ago we came across this picture of a wooden trestle spanning a ravine in Terwilliger Parkway. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have lasted very long.
The Walpole Garden artwork covering the utility box was applied Tuesday morning, April 9th. Many thanks to Northwest Natural Gas for installing this and partnering with Friends of Terwilliger whose vision is to showcase these century-old illustrations for all to see.
The Frederick Andrews Walpole Garden is a public garden created in the strip of land between SW Terwilliger Boulevard and SW Hamilton Terrace with spectacular, unobstructed views of the Willamette Valley and Mount Hood. The garden is named after Frederick Andrews Walpole, a major US botanical illustrator hired by the US government who settled in Portland and built his home at Eagle Point in 1894.
The project has been developed by the Friends of Terwilliger and Portland Parks & Recreation over the past six years: reflecting our volunteer capacity, funds raised, and exploring what works in the area.
Friends of Terwilliger (FOT) has been working with Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R) for a few years helping to construct a “nature patch” on the flat of Eagle Point, just off Terwilliger Blvd. at the Hamilton Terrace intersection. Eagle Point is a 1 acre plot that FOT helped alert the city when it was for sale. It was purchased in 2013 and added to Terwilliger Parkway and is now in the public’s hands.
The Olmsted Network is the first and only national organization dedicated to championing Olmsted parks, places, and principles through advocacy, education and stewardship. Check out their new website.
A long-term project to establish a native plant demonstration garden, based upon Frederick Walpole’s illustrations of Oregon Native Plants, is about to begin in Historic Terwilliger Parkway on either side of the SW Bancroft St right-of-way.
Friends of Terwilliger (FOT) was honored to guide participants of the “Preserving the Historic Road International” (PHRI) Conference on a tour of Terwilliger Parkway during their conference being hosted in Portland in late September.
(photo from 1912 bus tour)
Hillvilla, where the Chart House restaurant is now located on Terwilliger Blvd, was most famous for its pumpkin pie and owner Ed Palaske’s special recipe. When restaurateur and baker Eddie Palaske died, the recipe was posted in the Oregonian in his obituary. The special seasoning for this pie is different, but makes the best pumpkin pie many have ever eaten and has become a tradition in many Portland homes for the holidays.
It is sure to get rave reviews!
Eagle Point, the area of Terwilliger Parkway with spectacular views of the mountains to the east and the Willamette River, got a welcome clean up in July.
It’s been a long time coming, but Terwilliger Parkway has finally been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1985 the Portland Park Bureau hired a consultant to prepare nominations to the National Historic Register for several older city parks. But then they never submitted them to the National Park Service for listing. Now FOT has completed the task!
Over a hundred years ago, civic leaders of the young city of Portland hired the world-famous Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm to create a comprehensive park plan.
Friends of Terwilliger has contacted the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) to express our concern for the Totem Pole in the Terwilliger Parkway. The Totem Pole has numerous holes inflicted by wood-boring woodpeckers and is in need of protective restoration, repainting, and care.
The RACC public art “Totem Pole” is located at the Elk Point Viewpoint in the Terwilliger Parkway and was carved by Chief Lelooska in 1959. It became a partof RACC’s Public Art Program in the late 1980’s.
What does the Totem Pole at Elk Point, within the Terwilliger Parkway, have in common with the 1959 Oregon’s Centennial Celebration, Operation Deep Freeze, New Zealand, Antarctica, The Oregon Zoo and John F. Kennedy?
All who live near or use Terwilliger Boulevard appreciate its scenic nature and trails. But most streets don’t have an active “friends group” continuously advocating for them. What is this “Parkway” we’re so devoted to? We’ll start with a short definition– imprecise but closely aligned with how the term is commonly used.
The Terwilliger Parkway Design Guidelines and the Terwilliger Parkway Corridor Plan are two important documents that protect the natural character of Terwilliger Parkway and environs.
Terwilliger Parkway has provided a fitness course with many exercise stations since the late 1970s, but they haven’t been maintained and are largely lost to the public.
Terwilliger Parkway was not named after “Sideshow Bob” Terwilliger of “The Simpsons” fame; more likely it was the other way around.
Marquam Hill has a strange and convoluted history that plays into the creation of both Terwilliger Parkway and Oregon Health and Sciences University. Many people wonder how it is that two large medical facilities – OHSU and the VA Medical Center - would be in such a hard-to-access location. To answer that we have to go back to 1880 and efforts to bring the first transcontinental railroad link to the Northwest.
Terwilliger Parkway is a linear park, owned by the City of Portland, that winds south from downtown along the west hills. It consists of the road itself (“Terwilliger Boulevard”) and about 100 ft. of land on either side of the road. The Parkway represents Portland’s early recognition of the value of green spaces within the city, and now provides recreation and relaxation to its many visitors.
After 110 years, once-private Eagle Point on the Terwilliger Parkway has become a public overlook.
A blog post by Laura O. Foster
My guidebooks offer walking explorations of the neighborhoods, trails and parks of Portland, Oregon and its nearby towns. More info: lauraofoster.com
Besides being a spectacular site, Eagle Point has a fascinating history. The property adjoins Terwilliger Parkway to the east and straddles the original Donation Land Claims of Elizabeth Thomas Caruthers (north) and James and Philinda Terwilliger (south); Lowell St. was the dividing line between the old claims.