Ladd's Addition, Portland, Oregon

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An Alley in Ladd's Addition

Ladd's Addition is one of the oldest residential districts in Portland, Oregon. It is in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood, located in the near southeast part of the city. Ladd's Addition is known in Portland for its peculiar diagonal street pattern relative to the rest of the area. It is roughly eight blocks (east-west) by ten blocks (north-south) in size (by reference to the external grid) and is bordered by SE Hawthorne, Division, 12th, and 20th.

Ladd's Addition is named after William Sargent Ladd, a nineteenth-century Portland mayor. He originally owned a 126 acre (500,000 m²) farm on this land, and in 1891 decided to subdivide the land for residential use. Rather than follow the grid that the majority of Portland was based on, Ladd was inspired by Pierre L'Enfant's plan for Washington, D.C. Ladd designed the plat based on a diagonal street system surrounding a central park.

In addition to the off-kilter layout that has confounded many Portlanders, the narrow streets in Ladd's Addition are lined with old elm trees and many lead to a large traffic circle in the center. Other streets lead to four smaller, diamond-shaped "circles" located to the east, west, north, and south. Each of these "circles" contain a neighborhood rose garden, with the northern garden's rose bushes being in a slightly different layout than the other three.

FLAG - Friends of Ladd's Addition Gardens, raises money and volunteers to maintain the beautiful rose gardens, as well as inoculate the elm trees yearly for Dutch Elm Disease. They sponsor fun neighborhood events such as BBQ's, a neighborhood yard sale, and home tours.

In addition to large fancy homes, and smaller rented homes, the neighborhood hosts several churches, a hat museum, a few shops including an espresso and dessert house (Palio) and "Funky Church," a residence that was formerly a church and currently hosts small concerts and other events. Portlanders directionally savvy enough to navigate the web-like neighborhood can often be found walking their dogs, or admiring the many fancy homes and gardens.

Musicians Elliott Smith and Neil Gust lived in Ladd's Addition after graduating from College.