Sunday, March 6, 2011

Ladd's Addition & Squirrels

This is Ladd's Addition, a residential area in Southeast Portland. Although it certainly stands out on a map, this weekend was the first time we ventured over there. William Sargent Ladd became the 5th Mayor of Portland in 1854. In 1891 he decided to subdivide his 126-acre farm into what is now Ladd's Addition, drawing inspiration from Pierre L'Enfant's plan for Washington D.C. The entire area is now an historic district and volunteer organizations care for the rose gardens and elm trees that line the streets.

It's still not quite the right season for the roses, but we did make a friend:

Squirrel

And shortly thereafter found his portrait on a nearby retaining wall:

Squirrel Graffiti

A few buildings similar to this one line the edges of the rotary in the center. It looked like another great place to stop for coffee. Our exploration yesterday only took us up on Spruce Ave., around part of the rotary, and back out on Ladd Ave. Even so we saw some neat old houses and the triangle lots added character. One in particular kept me occupied with a wide variety of plants, including an unusual looking tree that dropped odd branches and pine cones. Still not sure what kind of tree that was, but I'd love to figure it out. (Leave me a comment if you know!)

1 comment:

VeganCraftastic said...

Very cool pictures, especially the little squirrel cutie in the tree!