The Smallest Park in the World Is Hilariously Tiny

The Guinness Book of World Records proclaimed this park the smallest in the world in 1971. Today, it still holds that title. Located in Oregon, this park is so tiny that if you laid a bowling pin on its side, the park would be only one and three-fifths times the length of the pin. Find out just how mini the smallest park in the world is and how it came to be.

What Is the Smallest Park in the World?

Mill Ends Park is a small, urban park that measures only two feet across. It has a total area of 452 square inches, making it the smallest park in the world.

Where Is the Park Located?

Found in downtown Portland, OR, Mill Ends Park sits in the median strip near the intersection of Naito and Southwest Taylor Street. The Willamette River and Tom McCall Waterfront Park are near this miniature park.

Here is where you can find it on Google Maps:

The History of the Smallest Park in the World

A journalist of the column Mill Ends, Dick Fagan, spied an unoccupied hole in the street median from his office. Despite the city digging the hole for a light pole, no one installed one. Consequently, the hole was overtaken by weeds. So, Fagan decided to plant flowers there instead.

In his column, he described the space as the “World’s Smallest Park” and dedicated it as such in 1948. As he retold the story, Fagan informed listeners that he had caught a leprechaun digging a hole there. As his wish, Fagan told the leprechaun that he wanted his own park. But he forgot to say how big it should be! Thus, the leprechaun turned the hole into the World’s Smallest Park, giving it to Fagan to maintain.

Mill Ends Park officially became a city park in 1976. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized it as the world’s smallest park in 1971. Since then, many items have been donated to the park, such as a teeny swimming pool, a small-scale Ferris wheel, and a fragment of the Journal building.

Though Mills Ends Park is small, it’s an event site for the area. People host picnics at this teeny park, and the Junior Rose Festival Court has had rose plantings there. Additionally, the Clan Macleay Pipe Band performed a concert at the site.

Changes to the Park

Construction on the Naito Parkway in 2006 caused the city to relocate Mill Ends Park temporarily. The park was reinstated on March 16, 2007, and a celebration followed with bagpipes and the Royal Rosarians. Even Dick Fagan’s widow, Katherine, came to honor the reopening of the smallest park in the world.

The Naito Parkway was updated again in 2021 with a permanent bike path and new sidewalks. This resulted in Mill Ends Park being moved to a new location—about six inches to the left of its original spot. Mill Ends Park received a new and improved sign and a cloverleaf border (because legend has it that a family of leprechauns live there).

While the location has slightly changed since Fagan first established the park, its status as the smallest park in the world has not!

The photo featured at the top of this post is © atul666 from Portland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 – License / Original