This is what the park looked like circa 1960. Any oldheads have stories about Big Boy, the lake's swan marshall? Photo: Courtesy of City of Portland Archive / A2001-045.126
Quack, quack! Y'all nailed it right on the bill. Joby was standing on the edge of the lake at Laurelhurst Park.
🦆 Flashback: Like some other parks in Portland, Laurelhurst was once a farm owned by two-time mayor William Ladd (of Ladd's Addition, duh). The city bought 30 acres from his 486-acre parcel back in 1911 to develop as a park, spring-fed pond included.
Workers deepened the pond into a 3-acre lake and it quickly became home to a handful of waterfowl, turtles, catfish, carp and black crappie fish — thousands of which still live there, despite multiple efforts to deplete their populations.
👏 Bravo to readers Alex D., Lauren W. and David H. for knowing their stuff.
