Portland Historic Architecture and Culture Tour

10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m.
Start at DIRECTOR PARK

Our downtown Portland, Oregon tours are engaging, well-paced and colorful: the Best of the City! It’s a weird city, but there are stories in every building, park and brick. We’ve organized our city’s best things -- and of course, its most complicated and conflicted, as well. In an ever-changing world we continuously change the story of the city.

Much of Portland’s history can be told through the buildings and street layouts including the prioritization of parks in the city center. It’s not a dry history: full of back-room deals, early deaths and greed; and then there were hippies!

How did Portland become the 1st city on the West Coast with a fine art museum? How did the city's early cultural reputation influence its mid-20th century; and how did it become such a lightning rod for racial justice protests? We'll discuss what was, is, and will be the soul of the city.

We keep groups to no more than 15 for personalization and safety.

Meeting Point

Director Park

815 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97205, USA

DIRECTOR PARK, 815 SW Park Ave, diagonally across Yamhill Street from Nordstrom and across from the Elephants Deli.
We'll meet you near the paved fountain on the north end of the park, the NE corner of the park.

What's included:

• Certified Guide

Not included:

• Gratuities (always appreciated)

What to expect:

Duration: between 2 hours and 2 hours, 30 minutes

Director Park

815 SW Park Ave, Portland, 97205-3084, Oregon

All tours start at DIRECTOR PARK. We'll meet you in the southeast corner of this urban hardscape park, near the intersection of SW Taylor and SW Park Ave. Our meeting spot is across the street from entrance to the Regal Fox Tower.
Parking is available on the streets nearby or in lots in the adjacent building. The MAX light rail comes just a block away, at the Pioneer Square stop.

1 minute

South Park Blocks

Southwest Park Avenue, , Portland, 97201, Oregon

Much of Portland’s history can be told through the buildings and street layouts; most importantly, the prioritization of parks throughout the city center. We'll walk through the park blocks and learn why they were laid out this way; and what the park blocks' designer didn't do before he died.

10 minutes

The Portland Building

1150 Southwest Fifth Ave, , Portland, 97204, Oregon

From cast iron-fronted buildings to the grandly disastrous post-modern Portland Building, we trace our history through architectural choices our city planners made.

5 minutes

Pioneer Courthouse Square

701 SW 6th Ave, Broadway between Morrison and Yamhill, Portland, 97204-1410, Oregon

No tour of downtown Portland, or history of the city's relationships with hippies, would be complete without a visit to Pioneer Courthouse Square. From its past as the center of education to the drive to keep out the "dirty hippies," we'll learn how and why this square has never been far from the minds of Portlanders and the city's visitors.

10 minutes