Shocking! Did You Know Portland is Home to The World’s Smallest Park?

Did you know the World's Smallest Park is in Portland, Oregon?

It's TRUE! A quick Google search confirms that Mill Ends Park is indeed the world's smallest.

How big is it? Or, how small is it?

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The park is a total of 452 square inches, according to Wikipedia and GuinnessWorldRecords.com. It's a small circle, 2 feet across, with a tree in the center.

The History of Mill Ends Park

The site of Mill Ends Park was originally designated for a light pole, in the median of Front Street, now, SW Naito Parkway. When there was no pole, weeds began to grow. A newspaper reporter for the Oregon Journal planted flowers on the spot. Dick Fagan named the site after his column in the paper, Mill Ends.

Fagan began to refer to the site as "The World's Smallest Park." He often made reference to it in his column, writing about the "events" at the park.

The park was dedicated on St. Patrick's day in 1948.

Fagan continued to write about activities in the park until he died in 1969. Many of his columns described the lives of a group of leprechauns, who established the "only leprechaun colony west of Ireland" in the park. Fagan claimed to be the only person who could see the head leprechaun, Patrick O'Toole. After Mill Ends officially became a city park on St. Patrick’s Day in 1976, the park continued to be the site of St. Patrick's Day festivities.

Mill Ends was named an official Portland City Park in 1976.

It's a popular site for St. Patrick's Day festivities. The Park is located in the median of SW Naito Parkway in Portland. For more, check out the video below from Family Geography Project.