Oregon
The main Lithuanian heritage site in Oregon is the Lithuanian Wayside Shrine (chapel-post) designed by famous Lithuanian-American architect Jonas Mulokas in 1962.
It is located in Portland‘s Grotto hilltop religious park. It is dedicated (as inscribed) to „Lithuanian Martyrs and all those who perished as victims of tyranny for love and freedom of their country“.
Lithuanian Wayside Shrine in Portland
More traditional than many of the Mulokas‘s interpretations of the Lithuanian chapel-post (often taking the form of church towers), this Wayside Shrine is nevertheless quite unique, using colorful depictions of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ in various times of his life.
Close-up of the Lithuanian Wayside Shrine in Portland
While the Oregon Lithuanian community was never large enough to build its own Lithuanian church or Lithuanian club, every DP (Soviet Genocide refugee) community needed its own focal point that would at least memorialize the Lithuanian struggle, thus erecting at least this Lithuanian Wayside Shrine. Lithuanian Wayside Shrine has then inspired Polish and other ethnic shrines nearby in what is otherwise a calm religious park accessible by a public elevator.
General view of the Grotto
The only two other Lithuanians-related places in Portland are its Ulsky Rd and Miken Ln, named after Lithuanians who owned land there (the original Lithuanian surnames were Ulskis and Mikėnas).
Ulsky and Miken crossroads in Portland
