That's "Couch" As In "Cooch"

Whilst mapping my journey from SE to NW for the Inland Empire showing, I noticed a small park on the map. Perfect, thinks I, those NW parks are gonna be pesky to get to anyway. I'll just drop on by & cross this one off the list. As you can see, I did.

Couch Park is named after Captain John Heard Couch, a famous Portland resident. According to the park plaque, he was so popular that when he died in 1870, the city basically shut down to attend his funeral. Apparently he was excellent at navigating the mouth of the Columbia River; but perhaps his most memorable contribution was to NW Portland, where he named the east-west streets in alphabetical order ("A Street", "B Street", etc.), a boon to those unfamiliar with the area. Though the streets now have more "official" sounding names (i.e., Flanders St., Lovejoy St. - yes, "The Simpsons" characters are named after Portland streets (my personal favorite is "Sideshow Bob" Terwilliger)), they do still run in alphabetical order; hence this area of town is imaginatively called the Alphabet District (which I think is also a nod to San Francisco). Including Couch Street. Which, indeed, is not pronounced in the traditional piece-of-furniture sense, but rather in the more uncouth slang term used to refer to ladyparts.

The park itself is fairly mundane. Probably most notable for its off-leash area, which is of little use to me. More interesting is the fact that where the park is once stood a rather grand estate belonging Cicero Hunt Lewis, a 19th century merchant "prince" who wed Couch's daughter Clementine. I guess they kind of kept the land in the family.

Side note: I almost lived in this neighborhood. Not on "Trendy-Third" Avenue, as the locals call it, but close - I nearly took an apartment on 21st. While it's actually an extremely pleasant area, full of the colorful Victorian houses that inhabit the city, & living there would have put me within spitting distance of Cinema 21, Powell's Books (the big guy; there's a smaller branch on Hawthorne that I can walk to) & the Magic Gardens (a locally famous strip club), I'm still happier with where I ended up. NW is more "city" vibe than I needed in my daily life. SE is definitely still city, but, I guess, just not as many stories high. Besides, Trimet is a godsend when it comes to getting around, & at least I can always find parking in front of my house.