Laurelhurst and Joan of Arc

I don't spend a lot of time on the East side of Portland, so I have only recently started getting a sense of where things are in relation to each other. I have still always had certain places that I remembered that I liked.

One of those has always been the area around Greek Fest. So many cars end up needing to find somewhere to park that you end up all over the immediate neighborhood: first driving through it, desperately looking for a space, then walking to Holy Trinity, then walking back.

When I was getting ready to head to Greek Fest this year, it occurred to me to see if there was anything else to do in the area, and that included looking up the location of the famous Joan of Arc statue. She is just a few blocks away.

Joan of Arc is a World War I memorial residing in Coe Circle. I had read articles about her being there, and efforts to restore the gold leaf. It didn't seem right to me that she could be so near the church and I had never seen her before.

After walking along Glisan from the church, it makes more sense. The way the trees are, you don't really see the statue until you are right there.

The trees are part of that atmosphere in the neighborhood that I have always liked, but there is more to it than that.

It is an older neighborhood, with the land for the development first being purchased in 1909. That means the plots are bigger, so many of the houses are bigger, but many are built like cottages. There are gardens, and trees whose roots have crept out and buckled the sidewalks. I didn't feel right taking pictures of people's houses, so there are only pictures of the statue in her circle here, but in general the houses are gracious and charming.

Well, except for the one with all of the broken bird baths and faded lawn ornaments. I'm not sure what they're going for there.