National Register of Historic Places, McLoughlin Promenade, Oregon City brochure

A four-page brochure on McLoughlin Promenade, one in a series of three brochures on Oregon City's National Register sites. From the brochure: "THE MCLOUGHLIN PROMENADE is a historic park site along the edge of Oregon City’s prominent bluff which was donated to the people of Oregon City by Dr. John McLoughlin in 1851. Between 1936 and 1939, the contributing park site was improved by three distinct but connected contributing structures constructed of locally quarried basalt and concrete. These structures are locally significant, as examples of Oregon City’s direct response to trends in local, state and national history. The first element is a 2,300-foot-long basalt stone and concrete pathway that runs along the prominent bluff, approximately 100-feet above historic downtown Oregon City. The second element is known as the Grand Staircase. It consists of a stone and concrete stairway at the north end of the path that leads down the bluff and curves south to meet the Municipal Elevator tunnel. A second leg of the Grand Staircase, known as the Singer Hill Road underpass, crosses below Singer Hill to the east of the Promenade, and rises through two short flights of stairs to the grassy lawns surrounding the McLoughlin House. The third structure is Singer Falls, a man-made waterfall consisting of five concrete tiers that takes Singer Creek from the top of the bluff to downtown. It sits just north of the Grand Staircase and the two intertwine on the steep descent. The Works Progress Administration (WPA), a Depression-era federal agency that employed artists and skilled workers on public works projects, assisted with the construction of the Promenade during the Great Depression and completed the work in 1939. All three elements had been constructed on the site of features that predate Euro-American settlement, including paths used by Native Clowwewalla, Cashhok and Molalla tribes for hundreds of years. The park has been well maintained by the City of Oregon City, as well as by local residents who take pride in caring for its landscaping. The Promenade was recently restored by stone masons who were able to repair degraded stone and concrete elements while retaining the rustic character of the original materials. The landscape features and the three contributing structures retain excellent integrity." Project funding was provided in part by a 2014 Historic Preservation Fund grant to City of Oregon City (project number OR-14-13) administered by the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P14AF00096) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Oregon City, Oregon is a Certified Local Government.

National Register of Historic Places, McLoughlin Promenade, Oregon City brochure

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