Ladd's Addition, Portland, Oregon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ladd's Addition Historic District | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. Registered Historic District) | |
 |
|
| Location: | Portland, Oregon |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | Apx. 1891 |
| Added to NRHP: | August 31, 1988 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 88001310 |
Ladd's Addition is one of the oldest residential districts in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood, located in the near southeast part of the city. Ladd's Addition is known in Portland for its peculiar diagonal street pattern relative to the rest of the area. It is roughly eight blocks (east-west) by ten blocks (north-south) in size (by reference to the external grid) and is bordered by SE Hawthorne, Division, 12th, and 20th. Locally, Ladd's Addition is known as the neighborhood to get "lost" in, since unsuspecting drivers who enter the development commonly find themselves disoriented as they drive around in circles trying to get out.
Ladd's Addition is named after William S. Ladd, a nineteenth-century Portland mayor. He originally owned a 126 acre (500,000 m²) farm on this land, and in 1891 decided to subdivide the land for residential use. Rather than follow the grid that the majority of Portland was based on, Ladd was inspired by Pierre L'Enfant's plan for Washington, D.C. Ladd designed the plat based on a diagonal street system surrounding a central park.
In addition to the off-kilter layout that has confounded many Portlanders, the narrow streets in Ladd's Addition are lined with American Elm trees and many lead to a large traffic circle in the center. Other streets lead to four smaller, diamond-shaped "circles" located to the east, west, north, and south. Each of these "circles" contain one of Portland's test rose gardens,[1] with the northern garden's rose bushes being in a slightly different layout than the other three.
Friends of Ladd's Addition Gardens (FLAG), raises money and volunteers to maintain the rose gardens,[2] and Save Our Elms inoculate the elm trees yearly for Dutch elm disease.[3]
The entire neighborhood was designated a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ladd's Addition Rose Garden. Portland Rose Festival Association. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ Friends of Ladd's Addition Gardens. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ History of Save Our Elms. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ Oregon National Register List. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007) |
[edit] External links
- Illustrating Four Treatments in Oregon: Community History, Ladd's Addition, Portland from the National Park Service
- Ladd's Circle and Squares from Portland Parks and Recreation
- Ladd's Addition, Portland, Oregon is at coordinates Coordinates:
|
||||||||||
