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Roadside

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The “Other” Shoe Tree

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Driving on Hiway 26 east of Mitchell Oregon on the way to John Day Oregon is this “Shoe Tree.” There is another such tree further south, but recent reports say that it’s been cut down. I’m not sure of the significance of this tree, or when shoes started appearing in it.

We came upon the tree late at night. All I saw were hundreds of reflections off the shoes in the headlights of the car. My first thought was that it was a collection of fireflys attracted to a certain tree for some reason. Instead, the little lights I saw accumulated into this.

Shoe Tree 1024x768 The Other Shoe Tree roadside attraction art abandoned

Keep in mind that other then the car headlights, it was totally dark here. This is literally the middle of nowhere.

Shute Park, Hillsboro Oregon

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Shute Park is located near the downtown Hillsboro area. It was purchased by the City of Hillsboro in 1906. Over the years since then it’s seen a lot of changes. The City of Hillsboro has grown to several times it’s size, a pavilion was built, lasted fifty years, then torn down. The WPA landscaped the park. And it’s now home to an A&W Family, and a giant wood carved Indian Head.

A WFamily thumb Shute Park, Hillsboro Oregon roadside attraction history art

The A&W Family located in the park has had a long and interesting history, including being stolen, career change, and finally being restored. The City of Hillsboro web site has more information about them.

A WFamily2 thumb Shute Park, Hillsboro Oregon roadside attraction history art

It’s apparent that these icons of 50′s fast food are still well loved as evidenced by web pages documenting their existence around the country.

Chief Kno Tah thumb Shute Park, Hillsboro Oregon roadside attraction history art This is Chief Kno-Tah

who was a Chief of the Tualatin Indians. It was carved by Peter Toth who has a personal mission to carve a giant Indian head in each state.

Shute Park Plaque thumb Shute Park, Hillsboro Oregon roadside attraction history art

WPA Project thumb Shute Park, Hillsboro Oregon roadside attraction history art


Here are the few remains of the WPA’s project in Shute Park. No doubt that fire place has warmed a lot of people on chilly nights as they roasted hot dogs and marshmellows over the fire.

Oregon Roadside Attractions, presented in Google Earth

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Which state has the smallest park? The world’s largest wooden airplane? A memorial bathroom? 25 miles of ridable model trains? A volcano within city limits? The only Velvet Painting museum in the world? Giant Shoes, bowling pin, rabbit and a fishing pole? The world’s shortest river? The largest Glockenspiel in the US? And history museums – with two headed animals and the skulls of the last men hanged in the US?

Oregon does!

And even more intriguing, Oregon now officially has the largest ball of twine! It’s not currently on display, but hopefully such an important achievement soon will be.

Find out where they’re all located in my handy Oregen Roadside Attractions Google Earth plugin.

Future versions of this file will be added to my Historic Oregon Google Earth Plugin

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