Lownsdale Square

Lownsdale Square occupies a full city block of grass and mature trees, distinguished by a bronze statue of a soldier atop a tall pedestal. Daniel Lownsdale deeded this land to the city in eighteen fifty-two, specifying it remain a public square forever. During the early days, the site hosted Portland’s first jail, a wooden shack that occasionally frustrated sheriff efforts when prisoners simply kicked their way through the rotting floorboards to escape into the nearby brush.