Two Plum Park

Two Plum Park grew from a vacant lot that retired Union Pacific worker Joe Martin started mowing in the King neighborhood, inspiring neighbors to clean up garbage, plant flowers, and petition the city for a proper park.

One day King neighborhood resident Joe Martin got tired of looking at the overgrown vacant lot near his home. The retired Union Pacific Railroad worker went down to Goodwill, bought an old lawnmower, and began cutting down the tall weeds. Neighbors joined him in cleaning out the garbage and planting flowers. Soon they began talking about turning the lot into a park. The timing was fortunate. The Trust for Public Land had recently obtained funding from the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund to help create parks in Portland and other cities. PP&R hosted several community meetings inviting residents to help design the park. The neighbors persuaded the city to expand the plans to include two lots. The city paid off the back taxes and took possession of the lots. The park was completed in November 2001; the neighbors named it Two Plum Park after the two plum trees that grow there.