Jamison Square
Situated between NW Johnson and Kearney and 11th and 12th, Jamison Square was the first park to be developed in 
the Pearl District. Named in memoriam of William Jamison, whose personality and art gallery drew many visitors to the Pearl District when it was nothing more than a rail yard. The fountain at Jamison Square emulates a cascading waterfall from a series of tiered blocks and is complete with a shallow tide pool.
Jamison Square has grown has become one of Portland favorite parks over the past several years. Jamison Square is many things to many people. To some it is the best place to play Bocce Ball; to others it is a great place to bring your dog and meet with neighbors, and to children, it is simply the beach.
On warm summer mornings you will find families claiming their spot on the grassy area before the crowds arrive. Van loads of children will hustle their parents along to apply sun block so that they can take a dip.
Lit trees along the pathways and an enormous Christmas tree with larger-than-life gift boxes helps Jamison Square come alive in the winter months. Resembling a movie set more than a city park, you will find carolers, walkers and others simply sipping their favorite drink from one of their favorite local coffee shops.
Visitors and neighbors a like can all agree that Jamison Square is to the Pearl District as Pioneer Square is to downtown Portland. With a café that is tailored to children, a hot dog stand, as many dogs as you can pet in one afternoon and a streetcar that will drop you off directly in front of the Jamison Square, this park is truly a Portland original.
Tanner Springs Park
Well before the Pearl District was littered with cranes developing new Pearl District lofts and condos and even before trains called this area home as a rail yard, the Pearl District was something entirely different, something very primitive; it was natural wetland. Frogs, blue herons and dragonflies made this area their home through an underground stream that climbed in to the hills of NW & SW Portland through Forest Park.
Tanner Springs Park is bordered by NW 11th and 12th and in between Marshall and Northrup and is also on the Portland Streetcar line.
Tanner Springs Park is not the energetic park that Jamison Square is. Tanner Springs Park is an ecological habitat that is designed to bring some of the natural aspects back to the Pearl District that existed here over 100 years ago. Dogs are not allowed in the park as they will disrupt the natural element. People are not allowed to enter the water.
When the architects started digging for the park they found many remnants of the old rail yard and incorporated them in to the design. Old tracks from the Burlington Rail Yard were found just below the surface. The old rails are now a fixed part of Tanner Springs Park as they are used on the East end of the park. Glass fragments show inlays of insects that formerly resided in the previous wetland.
Tanner Springs Park is a place to simply be; a place to block out everything and just relax with minimal sounds, in the middle of downtown Portland.
