World's Smallest Park

Welcome to Mill Ends Park. Yes, that 2 foot diameter hole is a park, and apparently, was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records as the worlds smallest. And yes, Portland is home to Mill Ends. I've lived here for 4 years and this is the first I'm hearing about this.

The Wikipedia article was funny. It gave a brief history of the park, including how it came to be (Founded by a man named Fagan in the 1940's, the location was originally slated for a light pole. Having noticed the pole never appeared, he took it upon himself to plant some flowers for viewing from his office window.), who lives there (Leprechauns and butterflies), and what attractions it hosts (In the 70's it boasted a butterfly swimming pool and a Leprechaun-sized ferris wheel which was delivered by a regular sized crane. Now it is principally a garden.)

Located in the intersection of Naito Parkway and Taylor Street, the park was a bit of a chore to get to, but the hint of possibly meeting Fagan's Leprechauns is alluring to many who would tempt fate by crossing out to see for themselves. Having realized this perhaps, it was moved 7 feet toward the crosswalk when Naito was revamped. I will admit, it is a bit of an anomaly and I'll be going down to check it out this weekend.