"[5] Public artworks in the park include Shemanski Fountain (1926), In the Shadow of the Elm, Peace Chant, (1984), Alexander Phimister Proctor's Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider, and a statue of Abraham Lincoln.

[6][7] A plaque from the Lang Syne Society was placed in the South Park Blocks at Jefferson Street in 1991, commemorating the Great Plank Road.

[9][10][11] Captain John H. Couch deeded his section, which became the North Park Blocks to the city on January 25, 1865, only ten days after receiving the federal patent for the land.

[19][20] On May 5, 1918, the dedication of the Vista House at Crown Point began with a parade of cars from the South Park Blocks, on the newly completed Historic Columbia River Highway.

[29] Other events have included Artquake, an art festival that attracted 200,000 people on Labor Day weekends in the Park Blocks from 1982 until at least 2003 and based on an art show that began in July 1949,[22][30][31][32] a 1983 protest against U.S. nuclear missiles placed in Europe (3,000 protesters),[33] an Oregon Public Employees Union strike in 1987,[34][35] a rally with presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988,[36][37] Shakespeare in the Parks in 1989,[38] a 1990 rally to pay tribute to Mulugeta Seraw, killed in Portland by white power skinheads in 1988, which had 1,500 people with 150 police officers defending against skinheads,[39][40][41][42] and the Homowo Festival of African Arts held from 1990 to at least 2004.

[49][54][55] An editorial in The Oregonian stated the celebration was "more potbelly than pot smoking", but held the loud exhausts, public address systems, and rows of portable toilets weren't appreciated in a neighborhood setting.

[57] More events included a pro-choice march, rally, and workshops in 1989 with 2700 to 7500 attendees,[58][59] a Tiananmen Square anniversary memorial ceremony in 1990,[60] the "Earth Fair" (celebrating Earth Day, held in at least 1990 and 1991; 1990 saw 15,000–20,000 visitors in the rain),[61] a 1991 Fourth of July parade to honor returnees from Operation Desert Storm (called the Defenders of Liberty Welcome Home Parade),[62] the Potluck in the Park homeless meal (held from 1991 until 1996, when it was moved to O'Bryant Square),[63] a 1,000-strong rally for Rodney King on May 2, 1992,[64] the Oregon Trailfest, a 1993 celebration of the Oregon Trail (including an authentic encampment with teepees and wagons),[65][66][67][68] Portland's first Critical Mass, held on September 24, 1993 with 100 cyclists in the South Park Blocks,[69] the Portland Arts Festival (part of the Portland Rose Festival) held in 1998 through at least 2006,[70][71][72][73][74] a gun control rally in 2000,[75] the 2,000 people (which included the Million Mom March) for the Amala Peace Walk in 2000, welcoming the Dalai Lama,[76] an AIDS Walk in September 2000, the "PDX AIDS Day Promise Vigil" at Shemanski Fountain to mark World AIDS Day in 2006,[77] a campaign rally and speech by Al Gore in October 2000,[78] the Twilight Criterium from 2002 to 2006 (attracting 10,000 spectators, moved in 2007 to the North Park Blocks due to construction),[79] a protest by about 150 people against the use of deadly force by Portland Police in a racially motivated traffic stop,[80] a march of grandmothers and mothers on Mother's Day 2004 titled "Mothers Acting Up",[81][82] a reading of Pablo Neruda's poetry on the 100th anniversary of his birth (July 2004),[83][84] a protest with 150 people to "mourn for the loss of our country" in November 2004 when John Kerry lost the 2004 presidential election,[85] a celebration of the Oregon State Quarter's launch in 2005,[86][87][88][89] a parade titled "Procession for the Future" for "climate stabilization and ecological well-being", "worker dignity", "think outside the (water) bottle", "just security and global justice", as well as costumed George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice "dressed as jailbirds" held on March 4, 2008.

[114][115][116][117] After a fringe group broke off from the protest and burned a US soldier in effigy, Michelle Malkin stated that "Portland hates America.

"[118][119] The Drudge Report, Lars Larson, and conservative blogs also commented on the effigy, and protest organizers with the American Friends Service Committee stated "We had a massive, peaceful demonstration against the killing and destruction going on every day in Iraq, a positive experience for thousands of people from different walks of life, and apparently the right-wing fringe is going to pick up that little portion.

[126] For the fifth anniversary, the Iraq Body Count Exhibit placed red and white flags in the South Park Blocks, signifying who had died between the Americans and Iraqis.

"[131] Posters with a logo were printed in the PSU Smith Center cafeteria, but protesters were evicted from the area by May 7 after a "wild, all-night party".

[131] On May 11, police officers charged[134] protesters and forcibly removed a symbolic hospital tent (a geodesic dome) placed on the blocks.

[138][139][140] The park blocks underwent serious renovations in 1987, adding plazas, large flower beds, lighting and irrigation, and newly paved sidewalks.

[139][142][143][144][145] In 1987, the New Theater Building of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts was completed immediately next door to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

[148] A child molester known as "Krusty the Troll" who preyed on homeless teens in the South Park Blocks, was charged with 79 counts of sex crimes in 1996.

[150][151] There was a major police sweep of the Park Blocks in 1996 for ordinances such as sitting on the Abraham Lincoln statue, marijuana possession, littering, and loud radios.

"[157][158][159] The Oregonian stated the curfew was due to a "verbally aggressive" in the area, after the group was displaced from the Burnside Bridge by the Big Pipe Project.

[164] Portland State University buildings near the park include the Peter Stott Center, Branford Price Millar Library, Lincoln Hall, and Ladd Carriage House.

The Ladd Tower, Oregon Historical Society, Portland Art Museum, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, and the Arlington Club are also nearby.

[165][166][167] Other art includes Paul Sutinen's In the Shadow of the Elm (built into the pavement),[168][169] and three large blocks of granite titled Peace Chant (1984).

[3] Two large statues are in the block: a $40,000, 18 feet (5.5 m) bronze equestrian statue called Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider, designed by Alexander Phimister Proctor, commissioned by Roosevelt's personal friend and Portlander Henry Waldo Coe and added in 1922, and one of Abraham Lincoln, "facing north, slump-shouldered and pensive", added in 1928, commissioned by Coe in 1926, sculpted by George Fife Waters.

[177] The primary Portland Farmers Market location, held in the South Park Blocks every Saturday from March to December attracts up to 14,000 people per weekend to the local food booths.

[183] The Saturday South Park Blocks location has been very popular, and has been credited with helping "make the city a national food destination".