Wishing Tree II (NE 20th and Fremont)

At the corner of Northeast 20th Avenue and Fremont Street stands a variant on Portland's wish tree: instead of a living tree, a metal rack about five by six feet, known locally as Wishing Tree II. Willamette Week mapped it among the city's neighborhood curiosities, and Wikipedia's survey of Portland's wish trees records it as one of the family of sites inspired by the original horse chestnut at NE 7th and Morris. Tags tied to the rack carry the same range of hopes that hang from living wish trees, written by strangers for strangers to read.

Whether a rack can hold the same charge as a tree is the kind of question Portlanders seem to enjoy, and the neighborhood's answer has been to keep stocking it. The site matters to the tradition because it shows how the practice adapts: where no suitable tree grows, the wish custom finds another form. It is a small stop minutes from the Alameda and Irvington neighborhoods, best paired with a walk past the original tree or the one on North Williams.

Visiting

NE 20th Avenue and NE Fremont Street, Portland, Oregon, at a residential corner. Visit any time. Hang a wish without forcing the rack's hardware, and leave what others have tied.