Plaza Blocks: Chapman Square

The southern Plaza Block is called Chapman Square. It is named for William W. Chapman (1808-1892), a native of Virginia and former Iowa territorial legislator who arrived in Portland in 1850 and became a partner in the townsite promotion company with Daniel Lownsdale and Stephen Coffin. Chapman was an attorney who also had business interests, in shipping and in the Great Plank Road. Chapman served as Surveyor General for Oregon from 1857 until 1861 when he resigned to practice law. Chapman sold Chapman Square to the city in 1870. A marker in honor of Chapman was placed here by the Lang Syne Society of Portland in 1991.

Monument to the First High-Tension Power Line

On the east side of Chapman Square is a marker placed by the Lang Syne Society of Portland, Oregon on June 3, 1962, commemorating the world's first high-tension power line, which began operation between Portland and Willamette Falls by the Willamette Falls Electric Company (a predecessor of Portland General Electric) on June 3, 1889.

The Promised Land by David Manuel on February 15, 2010

In the center of Chapman Square is a monument placed in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Oregon Trail. The bronze statue called The Promised Land was sculpted by Oregon artist David Manuel in 1993.

The Promised Land by David Manuel on February 15, 2010

The red granite base is engraved with an 1804 quote from President Thomas Jefferson:

It is so long since our forefathers came from behind the great water,
that we have lost the memory of it, and seem to have grown out of this land, as you have done.
We are all now of one family, born in the same land, and bound to live as brothers.
The Great Spirit has given you strength, and has given us strength,
not that we might hurt one another, but to do to each other all the good in our power.

Women’s Restroom in Chapman Square on February 15, 2010

This is the women's restroom in Chapman Square, the counterpart to the men's restroom in Lownsdale Square.

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