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Kelley Point Park

Public park in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Field	Value
name	Kelley Point Park
photo	Kelley point park.jpg
photo_width	300
photo_caption	View up the Columbia River from the park, 2008
type	Urban park
location	N Marine Dr. and Lombard St.
Portland, Oregon
coords
area	104.69 acre
created	1984
operator	Portland Parks & Recreation
status	Open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily

Portland, Oregon

Kelley Point Park is a city park in north Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Bounded by the Columbia Slough on the south, the Willamette River on the west, and the Columbia River on the north, the park forms the tip of the peninsula at the confluence of the rivers. Marine Terminal 6 of the Port of Portland lies immediately east of the park along the Columbia, while Terminal 5 is along the Willamette slightly south of the Columbia Slough. The park is at and rises to an elevation of 39 ft above sea level. Sauvie Island is west of the park across the Willamette River. Hayden Island is slightly upstream of the park on the Columbia River opposite Marine Terminal 6.

Description and history

The city acquired the park site in 1984 from the Port of Portland, which had covered much of the peninsula with dredged material from the Columbia River to create places to build terminals. The site was formerly part of Pearcy Island, separated from the mainland by sloughs, one of which was called Pearcy Slough. Pearcy Island still appears on topographical maps at even though it is no longer an island. Pearcy Island and Pearcy Slough were named after Nathan Pearcy, who settled a donation land claim on the island in 1850. Development projects later altered the landforms in this vicinity. For example, maps from as late as December 1919 show that what is now Kelley Point was originally a small, separate landmass known as Nigger Tom Island. According to an article published in the December 1864 issue of The Atlantic magazine, the island was named for a "blind African nobleman" who once lived there and was known locally by this moniker. He was described as "living in great affluence of salmon and whiskey with three or four devoted Indian wives, who had with equal fervor embraced the doctrine of Mormonism and the profession of day’s-washing to keep their liege in luxury due his rank." The name Nigger Tom Island stopped appearing on maps after the narrow slough that separated it from Pearcy Island was filled-in sometime after 1919, making it the northern tip of the larger island.

Park amenities include a historical site, paved and unpaved paths, picnic tables, public art, restrooms, and a vista point. The 104.16 acre park, operated by the Portland Parks & Recreation Department, is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kelley Point was once the site of a small lighthouse.

Dec. 1919 Commission of Public Docks map showing the mouth of the Willamette. The red dot off Nigger Tom Island (now Kelley Point) was the approximate location of the Willamette River Lighthouse

Wildlife includes Bewick's wrens that frequent the park's black cottonwood forest. Caspian terns, osprey, double-crested cormorants, and gulls are common near the rivers. Sights from the vista point include ship traffic on both rivers. An informal Columbia Slough canoe launch lies near the park entrance along Kelley Point Park Road, west of Interstate 5 along North Marine Drive. The 40-Mile Loop hiking and biking trail runs by the entrance to the park.

References

Works cited

Houck, Mike, and Cody, M.J., eds. (2000). Wild in the City. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. .
McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003). Oregon Geographic Names, Seventh Edition. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press.

References

(2005). "Facilities Map". Port of Portland.
(May 1, 1994). "Kelley Point City Park". Geographic Names Information System.
"Online Topographic Maps from the United States Geological Survey". TopoQuest.
McArthur, p. 747
"Willamette River Light Station (Oregon)". United States Lighthouse Society.
"On the Columbia River". The Atlantic magazine.
McArthur, p. 527
(2008). "Kelley Point Park". Portland Parks and Recreation: City of Portland.
Houck, pp. 314–15

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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