Hey everyone! Welcome to my first real post. Today we are going to look at a small historical piece of Portland, the Paul Bunyan statue above. It was recently repainted, and since the sun was out, I stopped to take some pictures of it today. The plaques by his feet tell us that the original statue was erected in 1959 to celebrate Oregon's 100th birthday and to celebrate the logging heritage of the state. It also tells that it was renovated in the 1990s in addition to being repainted I am sure many times. I have heard that it was placed in the locatioon that it is in because Interstate Avenue was at the time the main road in from Washington, and with all the expected visitors for the 1ooth birthday celebrations it wouold be seen by many people. This corner is also a main set of streets in the Kenton Neighborhood, and since the Kenton Business Association built it, it makes sense to be where it is. The plaques also say that he overlooks the Expo center which is where the celerations were held in 1959.
What I like about this particular shot is that it shows him towering over the trees, which is of course what Paul would be doing in real life. I wish there was a giant blue ox statue somewhere nearby, but I have never seen it. Maybe they can build that for the 200th birthday of Oregon, which will not be until 2059, quite a ways off.
Of course, please leave your comments below.
Thanks! I hope that in the course of these posts I can share some of the wonderful things I love about portland, and this is one of the great examples of what makes it unique.
Joe
