Sight #5 Elk Fountain

Thompson Elk Fountain

1120 SW 5th Ave., Portland, OR 97204 (link is external)

Elk Fountain, ca. 1949-1950

For 120 years, the Thompson Elk Fountain resided at this site on Main Street. Atop the granite fountain, a bronze statue of an elk surveyed the Plaza Blocks in commemoration of the animals that once roamed the Willamette Valley. David P. Thompson, former mayor of Portland, donated the statue and fountain to the City in 1900. Roland Hinton Perry designed the statue and H.G. Wright, the fountain.

The fountain suffered severe damage during protests in the summer of 2020. Both it and the statue were subsequently removed from the location. In 2022, the City confirmed plans to reinstall the statue in early 2023 on a smaller base.

Until then, you can catch a glimpse of the fountain in Gus Van Sant’s film, My Own Private Idaho, in which it makes a brief appearance.