Downtown, the elk stands tall on SW Main between two lovely, square block city parks. I really like this statue, The Thompson Elk Fountain. Notice that line of TriMet buses in the background? Since this is October, 2007, the downtown Transit Mall is rerouted to SW Third--the street you see--and SW 4th which is behind me to the west, so that the actual mall on SW 5th and SW 6th could be totally redone which took a couple of years. The building with the teal-colored glass is the Justice Center, home to various courts and one of the Multnomah County jails. I've seen vintage photos of horses hitched into delivery wagons drinking from this fountain, and I've witnessed Portland Police Bureau horses taking a drink from it.
The teal-colored lower floors of the Portland Building look neat against the golden leaves of the gingko trees. Here's a bit about the fountain, from the city's Web site, fountain page: David P. Thompson drove sheep to Portland over the Oregon Trail. From 1879-82 he served as Portland's Mayor. In 1900, Thompson's gift of this bronze elk sculpture was intended to commemorate elk that once grazed nearby. Roland Hinton Perry sculpted the elk.
Here's a 4 bus making its way by the elk without difficulty. Lots of days after work, I'm on that bus, lately only if I miss the Portland Streetcar outside my work building.
Other vehicles successfully pass the fountain, too.
3 comments:
Very nice shots !
Tomás.
The fall colours really stand out, but that elk is amazing!
You can find stuff in your archives from eight years ago? I'm impressed. (Keep up that positive attitude.)
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