Mill Ends Park
Public ownership and inventory records do not establish permission to enter. Public-entry status is separate from wheelchair accessibility.
Classification and evidence
Official page label: Park; Atlas classification rules. Classification: inferred.
Source captured: 2026-06-02. Human verification: Pending.
Check current official informationConfirm public entry and current hours.
Confirm the inferred property type with PP&R.
Photo from the City's park pagePark history
In 1946, Dick Fagan returned from World War II to resume his journalistic career with the Oregon Journal. His office, on the second floor above Front Street (now Naito Parkway), gave him a view of not only the busy street, but also an unused hole in the median where a light pole was to be placed. When no pole arrived to fill in this hole, weeds took over the space. Fagan decided to take matters into his own hands and to plant flowers.
Fagan wrote a popular column called Mill Ends (rough, irregular pieces of lumber left over at lumber mills). He used this column to describe the park and the various "events" that occurred there. Fagan billed the space as the "World's Smallest Park." The park was dedicated on St. Patrick's Day in 1948 since Fagan was a good Irishman. He 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.
Over the years, contributions have been made to the park, such as a small swimming pool and diving board for butterflies, many statues, a miniature Ferris wheel (which was brought in by a normal-sized crane), and the occasional flying saucer. The events held at the park have included concerts by Clan Macleay Pipe Band, picnics, and rose plantings by the Junior Rose Festival Court.
The park had to be moved temporarily in 2006 for construction on Naito Parkway. It was replaced on March 16, 2007, in true St. Patrick's Day style with the Royal Rosarians, bagpipers, and the Fagan family, including Dick's wife Katherine, in attendance.
From the City's page for this park.
Visitor amenities
Published amenities are checked separately from entry conditions. Each links to other documented locations; confirm current hours before visiting.
No visitor activities are verified from the available entry and amenity evidence. Inventory records alone do not establish public use.
Potential additions to investigate
Passing the initial size-and-type screen is not a feasibility finding. Usable space, existing uses, habitat, public access, utilities, permission, construction costs, and ongoing maintenance funding require site-specific review. Missing acreage or uncertain classification remains unassessed.
The available evidence does not establish a complete set of enabling assets for this screen.
No single-addition candidate passes this preliminary screen.
Inventory-based screening only. Recorded assets do not establish opening hours, program staffing, permission, or operating funding. Potential additions require review of usable space, habitat, utilities, access, and ongoing maintenance. Unverified properties remain unassessed.
School grounds nearby
Public school grounds within a half mile, by straight line. What is listed is what OpenStreetMap mappers have recorded, not an inventory. The district sets public access.
- Emerson School · Portland Public Schools · 1.4 acres0.5 mi
Nothing recorded inside the grounds yet.
Beyond parks explains what opening a school ground would take.
School grounds: Metro RLIS. Features inside them: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Through the year
Seasonal facilities and listings captured by the Atlas. These records do not measure attendance, utilization or all activity at the site.
Counts describe captured listings, not attendance or all activity. No listings captured does not mean the site is unused.
Dark by 5 and wet most days: cover, lighting, indoor rooms, and paths that drain.
- No seasonal facilities verified in this index
Fields and gardens open; showers between sun. Leagues, planting, first picnics.
- No seasonal facilities verified in this index
Water, shade, long evenings — the season the system is built around.
- No seasonal facilities verified in this index
Light shortens and leagues wind down; shelters and lighting carry the season.
- No seasonal facilities verified in this index
| Season | Programs | Recurring events | One-time |
|---|---|---|---|
Winter Dec–Feb Not yet published | — | — | — |
Spring Mar–May Recorded from 2026-06-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Summer Jun–Aug Recorded from 2026-06-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fall Sep–Nov Recorded through 2026-10; 1 month still to come | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What's on
No current listings were captured and matched to this property. This does not establish that no activity takes place. See the citywide calendar and programs.
Partners & friends
The whole ecosystemNo known partner is currently linked to Mill Ends Park in the Partnership Atlas. This is an opportunity signal, not an official priority.
See opportunity signalsSupport this park
Real ways to help Mill Ends Park and parks like it. This site does not process donations; every link below goes to an official giving or volunteering channel.
How it's holding up
The City's own inventory of what is here and the condition it last recorded for each item. Dates are the source's; old dates mean no newer public assessment, not that nothing has happened since. Historical project estimates appear below; they are separate from these condition records.
Historical cost profile · 2023 reporting
Mill Ends Park
Not available
No historical estimate matched to this property. This does not mean no repair needs.
All-in annual service cost: Not established
Current remaining repair cost: Not verified
No rated built records linked in the condition dataset. Condition ratings do not determine these dollar estimates.
Source: KGW’s November 2023 table. Current status, remaining scope and funding are unverified. Exact duplicate rows count once; other scope overlaps remain unresolved.
Compare repair estimates across parks →Annual service · FY 2026–27 adopted
A complete annual cost is not yet available.
This property has no named account linked in the public budget extract. Shared crews and citywide programs may still fund its care.
Later budget supplements and unallocated shared services are not included.
Annual breakdown & district context →District picture · District 4
This park in the district picture
The same public records, read the same way for every property, so this park can be set next to its district. Each figure keeps its own source and date. “Not available” means the source has no record for this property. It is not a zero.
People nearby
- Residents within a half mile
- 4,445
- Households within a half mile
- 3,543
2020 Census blocks whose centre point lies within a half mile of the park boundary, measured in a straight line. Residents, not visitors. Blocks outside the city limits count.
Recorded backlog
- Open backlog IDs
- 0
- Closed backlog IDs
- 0
Records in the PP&R backlog map workbook that name this property. The workbook publishes no cost field, so these are counts of records, not dollars.
Active capital projects
- Active geocoded projects
- 0
Geocoded PP&R capital projects at this property, a subset of the full capital program. The cost is the published estimated total project cost, not spending to date.
Who is on record
No partner agreement on record
The department-provided directory names no agreement here. Friends groups without a formal agreement are not captured.
From the department-provided partnership directory. It records what is on paper, not who does each task.
Repair ledger
Public data does not currently flag repair candidates for this park. Additional PP&R maintenance exports can be added without changing the page structure.
Seen something here that's broken, fixed, or missing from this list? Records are updated periodically; tell us what you see.
Send a condition note →Public assets
All 0Furnishings the City inventories here, with each item's condition score — 1 is good, 5 is very bad. Asset photos aren't public yet.
From the City's park page
Mill Ends Park on Portland.gov
The smallest park in the world!
Mill Ends Park is a tiny urban park, consisting of one tree, located in the median strip of SW Naito Parkway in downtown Portland, Oregon. The park is a small circle 2 feet across, with a total area of 452 square inches (0.00007205784 acres). It is the smallest park in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, which first granted it this recognition in 1971.
All dogs must be leashed in this park.
This page, on a sign
The QR label for this park points here. Print labels →
https://parks.portlandciviclab.org/parks/mill-ends-park-265?utm_source=park_qr&utm_medium=sign&utm_campaign=park_265
Where this comes from
Facilities from the City's amenity pages and asset layers; hours, photo, and history from the City's park page; programs and events from its catalogs; condition from PortlandMaps public records. Where the City publishes nothing, this page says so instead of guessing.