Longma Iron Corner Ornament

Newly acquired cast iron piece from Christopher Wilson

The Architectural Heritage Center has recently been fortunate to receive a donation from Cristopher Wilson of a beautiful cast iron corner ornament featuring a mythical Longma from the Cook's block.

The piece once graced the entrance to the Cooks’ Block that had stood on the SE corner of SW 2nd and Oak Streets. (Not to be confused with the Cook’s Building that stood at the East side of Front Street.)

Cook's Block on SE corner of SW 2nd and Oak Streets

The building was designed by Warren Williams for James W. and Vincent Cook who had made their fortune in the salmon packing business. The cast iron for the Cook’s Block was produced by Portland’s Willamette Iron Works and the building was completed in 1884 for $20,000. Although the building was demolished in 1965, much of the cast iron from the building was salvaged by Jerry Bosco & Ben Milligan so this is an exciting addition!

Four cast iron columns from the building have been loaned by the Architectural Heritage Center to the Portland Parks Department to be installed in Darcelle Square. Darcelle Square is currently being erected on the former site of Bryant Square at SW 9th between SW Washington and Harvey Milk Streets.

The corner ornament can be seen above the doorway arch on the upper right in the above image

The mythical beast depicted in the cast iron corner piece is a Longma. A Longma is a dragon/horse from Chinese mythology. In this case a dragon/seahorse. Sighting a Longma is considered good fortune.