McLoughlin Promenade on Historic Register

OREGON CITY, Ore. — A site named for a prominent Fort Vancouver resident is among Oregon’s latest entries in the National Register of Historic Places.

The McLoughlin Promenade, a historic park site along the edge of Oregon City’s bluff, was built on land donated for that purpose by Dr. John McLoughlin in 1851.

McLoughlin didn’t just live in Fort Vancouver; he ran the place. He was chief factor at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s regional headquarters from 1825 to 1845 and then moved to Oregon City.

The promenade includes a 2,300-foot-long basalt and concrete pathway that runs along the bluff; the Grand Staircase; and Singer Falls, a man-made waterfall with five tiers.

It was built as a Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression and finished in 1939.

Pedestrians can also travel from the top of the bluff to the downtown via the Oregon City Municipal Elevator, also in the National Register of Historic Places. The promenade was recently restored and a new art installation added at the base of the falls in 2011.

It is one of 29 properties in Oregon City that are listed in the National Register, which is maintained by the National Park Service under the authority of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.