Picnic shelters
Reserve a covered picnic site through the city's online reservation center.
Reserve on Portland.gov503-823-2525
Centennial · District 1 · Mid-size park · 7.7 acres
Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park
Developed parkPublic entry documented
The captured official page publishes visiting hours. Check the source for current closures. 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 the inferred property type with PP&R.
Published activities: let my kids play, play on a field, and gather out of the rain.
Hours
5:00am-midnight
Getting there
SE 165th Avenue and Market Street Portland, OR 97233
Dogs
Dogs on leash
Access
Accessible restroom, accessible picnic area
Photo from the City's park pagePark history
This park was originally a Multnomah County park and was transferred to the City of Portland in 1993. Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park covers nearly 8 acres in the Centennial Neighborhood at SE 167th and Market Street, just west of Patrick Lynch Elementary School. Significant park improvements were completed in Spring 2020, thanks to funding from the 2014 Parks Replacement Bond and Parks System Development Charges. Improvements include a new playground, picnic shelter, paved pathways, a Portland Loo, public art, and a renovated grass soccer field.
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.
…stay a while
- use a restroomRestroom
- use an accessible restroomAccessible restroom
- sit down to eatPicnic table
- gather out of the rainPicnic shelter
…play
- let my kids playPlayground
- let every kid playAccessible play area
…compete
- play on a fieldAny sport field
- play soccerSoccer or futsal field
…get here and move
- be in a parkAny park
- walk or roll on pavementPaved path
- picnic with everyoneAccessible picnic area
…remember and belong
- see public artPublic art
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.
Enabling assets recorded
- Evening use — Programming after dusk — leagues, classes, walks.
- League play — Organized sport seasons.
- Youth drop-in — Free unstructured play with somewhere for adults to sit.
- Nature education — Environmental programs and guided walks.
- Markets & festivals — Vendor events and neighborhood festivals.
One addition to investigate
- Gatherings & events — needs stage or amphitheater or plaza or terrace
- Summer water play — needs splash pad or wading pool or swimming pool or interactive fountain
- All-weather indoor — needs indoor space or community center or arts or cultural center or gymnasium
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.
What else should this park let you do?
Something specific to this park — the thing you'd use it for if it were here.
Send an idea for this park →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.
- Patrick Lynch Elementary · Centennial · 10 acres0.2 mi
On record: 2 basketball pitchs, 1 baseball pitch, 1 softball pitch, 1 playground, 1 soccer pitch. Not recorded in this property’s inventory: basketball court, baseball or softball.
- Parklane Elementary and Oliver Middle · Centennial · 15.6 acres0.4 mi
On record: 3 tracks, 2 gardens, 2 athletics pitchs, 1 playground. Not recorded in this property’s inventory: running track.
- Alder Elementary · Reynolds · 10.5 acres0.5 mi
On record: 2 baseball pitchs, 2 playgrounds, 1 garden. Not recorded in this property’s inventory: baseball or softball.
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.
Winter
Dec–Feb
Dark by 5 and wet most days: cover, lighting, indoor rooms, and paths that drain.
- use a restroom
- gather out of the rain
- walk or roll on pavement
- use an accessible restroom
- sit down to eat
- be in a park
- +4 more
0 programs · 0 events starts captured
Fewest modeled facilities
Spring
Mar–May
Fields and gardens open; showers between sun. Leagues, planting, first picnics.
- let my kids play
- play on a field
- play soccer
- use a restroom
- use an accessible restroom
- sit down to eat
- +6 more
0 programs · 0 events starts captured
Summer
Jun–Aug
Water, shade, long evenings — the season the system is built around.
- sit down to eat
- use a restroom
- use an accessible restroom
- gather out of the rain
- be in a park
- let my kids play
- +6 more
0 programs · 0 events starts captured
Fall
Sep–Nov
Light shortens and leagues wind down; shelters and lighting carry the season.
- use a restroom
- gather out of the rain
- play on a field
- use an accessible restroom
- sit down to eat
- be in a park
- +6 more
0 programs · 0 events starts captured
What the record holds here, by season
| Season | Programs | Recurring events | One-time |
|---|---|---|---|
Winter Dec–Feb registration opens 10/08 (activities Nov 2 – Dec 13 and winter-break camps Dec 21 – Jan 3) | — | — | — |
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 2026-09; 2 months still to come | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Our reading of the calendar
Which facilities count as in season is our model of Portland's year (splash pads and wading pools in summer, fields and gardens spring through fall, everything else year-round) — not the City's schedule. Check posted hours for pools, splash pads, and restrooms. From 12 weekly catalog snapshots (2026-06-11 to 2026-09-07). "Programs" are distinct titles; "sections" are the catalog's individual records — a swim level at one time slot for one week is one section. Complete through 2026-09; later months fill in as registration opens. Winter counts fill in when winter registration opens.
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.
Reserve at Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park
This park has facilities you can reserve. Booking happens on the city's official systems — every link below goes straight there.
Athletic fields
Permit sports fields through PP&R's customer service center.
Reserve on Portland.gov503-823-2525
Partners & friends
The whole ecosystemOpportunity signal
No known partner is currently linked to Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park in the Partnership Atlas. This is an opportunity signal, not an official priority.
See opportunity signalsSupport this park
Real ways to help Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park and parks like it. This site does not process donations; every link below goes to an official giving or volunteering channel.
Donate via Portland Parks FoundationThe independent nonprofit philanthropic partner for Portland's parks. Gifts support parks and programs citywide.Volunteer with Portland Parks & RecreationJoin official PP&R volunteer and stewardship programs, from work parties to ongoing roles.Find park partners and friends groupsDozens of community organizations steward specific Portland parks. See who works where.
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. PP&R does not publish itemized repair costs, so needs appear without dollar figures.
Condition across all assets
Citywide condition atlasAcross 76 assessed assets at this park, 1% are in poor or very-bad condition (rated 4–5). Pooled from the City's public assessment layers — buildings, bridges, playgrounds, courts, fields, fences, paths and amenities.
This count comes from the City's rated asset layers; the “Public assets” list below is a separate furnishings inventory, so its items and scores are counted separately and the two totals need not match.
Good · 68Above fair · 4Fair · 3Poor · 0Very bad · 1
Assessed asset families here
Amenities & furnishings2007 (2007–2026)Buildings2018Pathways & trailsPlayground equipment2020Sport fields
Condition is rated 1 (good) to 5 (very bad); no score means not yet assessed and is excluded. Park trees are inventoried separately and not counted here. No repair costs — those aren't published.
Repair ledger
Each row is one record from PP&R's public asset layer. No itemized repair cost is published for these records, so none is shown. Dates are the source's last published assessment; treat older ones as unverified.
| Asset | Condition | Status | Replacement | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Picnic Table Status is Removed. Priority urgent. Record 3599 | Very bad condition code 5 | Removed | no | 2007-08-13 |
Showing all 1 public repair candidates.
Know this park?
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 37Furnishings the City inventories here, with each item's condition score — 1 is good, 5 is very bad. Asset photos aren't public yet.
Picnic Table×9
121511111
Permanent Bollard×7
1111133
Bench×6
111111
Art Work×5
11111
Permanent Trash Can×5
–3111
Bike Rack×4
1111
Drinking Fountain×1
1
Official Portland.gov profile
From the City's park page
Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park on Portland.gov
Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park covers nearly 8 acres in the Centennial Neighborhood at SE 167th and Market Street, just west of Patrick Lynch Elementary School.
Verdell Burdine (pronounced bur-DYE-n) was born in Oklahoma in 1913 and moved with her family that same year to Oregon, who hoped to get farmland under the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909. Upon arrival, they learned that Black people were prohibited from owning free land in Oregon.
In 1936, Verdell married Otto Rutherford and settled in Portland. Together, they were leaders of the Oregon chapter of the NAACP, a national civil rights organization, and oversaw one of the NAACP’s biggest victories – the passage of the Public Accommodations Act of 1953 which outlawed discrimination in public places on the basis of race, religion, or national origin.
Rutherford was also a historian of the Black community in Portland. In 2011, a decade after Verdell’s passing, her daughter, Charlotte, gifted her historical collection to Portland State University. It remains accessible for academic research and public use as desired by Verdell.
City label
Park
Year acquired
1993
Official acres
7.703
City section
East
Neighborhood
Centennial
Hours
Park hours: 5:00am-midnight
Amenities and activities
Accessible picnic areaAccessible play areaAccessible restroomPicnic shelterPicnic tablePlaygroundStatue or public artTrails and pathsPaths (paved)Soccer field
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/verdell-burdine-rutherford-park-244?utm_source=park_qr&utm_medium=sign&utm_campaign=park_244
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.