But their good intentions were only partly realized. The results were the 12 South Park Blocks, from Jackson to Salmon Street, and the six North Park Blocks, from Ankeny to Glisan Street. The South Park Blocks form the center of Portland's Cultural District. They were donated to the City in 1852 by Daniel H. Lownsdale and William W. Chapman, who both have downtown squares named for them. Around the same time, numerous lots surrounding the South Park Blocks were deeded to churches and fraternal organizations.
Early photographs show it as a narrow clearing, cutting through the town like a flat ribbon.
But in 1877 the City Council authorized the planting of 104 poplar and elm trees. By the turn of the century, homes and churches bordering the park blocks enjoyed the shade of those trees, as they still do. Historic Churches Ornate homes and stately buildings have come and gone, but the old churches of downtown Portland seem to be eternal. Built with massive basalt stone, brick or wood, some have served their congregations for more than a century. Their steeples long a familiar part of the skyline, the historic churches are an important part of the city's cultural life.