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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, OR

…Continued from Portland Children’s Museum.

IMG_2370 Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010
Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park on February 15, 2010

Beginning in 1911, Superintendent of Portland Parks Samuel L. Mische promoted the idea of an arboretum in Portland, and by 1913 he was acquiring seeds from E.H. Wilson in China through the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.

IMG_2366 Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010
Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park on February 15, 2010

In 1928, the northern 145 acres of the land acquired from Multnomah County in 1922 was established as the Hoyt Arboretum, named for Multnomah County Commissioner Ralph Warren Hoyt.

IMG_2367 Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010
Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park on February 15, 2010

John W. Duncan was commissioned to design a plan for the arboretum, which he completed in 1930, calling for 501 species grouped taxonomically, with room for further addition.

IMG_2372 Geese Flying Over the Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010
Geese flying over the Hoyt Arboretum on February 15, 2010

The land had been decimated by a forest fire in 1889, and since then a dense forest of young alders, maples, hemlocks, Douglas firs and western red cedars had grown.

IMG_2373 View from the Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010
Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park on February 15, 2010

The land was cleared by Works Progress Administration crews, leaving some of the native trees in place.

IMG_2375 View of Mount St. Helens from the Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010
View of Mt. St. Helens from Hoyt Arboretum, February 15, 2010

New trees were planted according to the Duncan Plan in 1931; some of the earliest plantings were the Coast Redwoods along the Redwood Trail, which are now over 150 feet tall.

IMG_2377 View from the Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010
Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park on February 15, 2010

Most of the original plating was done by 1938, and by 1944 all 40 of the plant families on the Duncan Plan were represented.

IMG_2378 Hoyt Arboretum at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010
Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park on February 15, 2010

Since then, the arboretum has grown to include thousands of plantings from about 1,000 different species.

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