Portland to Restore Lincoln Statue Toppled and Damaged During Destructive 2020 Riots

Portland, OR. — The bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln toppled during a 2020 protest will return to its original pedestal in Portland’s South Park Blocks, Mayor Keith Wilson announced Sept. 10. The city expects to reinstall it in spring 2027.

Protesters pulled down the Lincoln statue and a nearby statue of Theodore Roosevelt on Oct. 11, 2020, during an event described as an “Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage.” Windows at the Oregon Historical Society and Portland State University were also damaged that night, according to the Oregon Historical Society.

The two presidents’ statues were among several Portland monuments damaged or removed amid the protests of 2020 and 2021. A statue of George Washington was toppled in June 2020, and a statue of former Oregonian editor Harvey Scott was toppled that October. Fires at the base of the Thompson Elk fountain prompted officials to remove its bronze elk before the structure could fall. The city also removed the Promised Land monument following protests downtown. Those works have since followed different paths through Portland’s monuments review process.

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Destruction continued in 2021. After the Scott statue was removed from Mount Tabor, an artist placed a temporary bust of York, an enslaved member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, on its pedestal. That bust was later torn down and irreparably damaged. The city has since commissioned a permanent bronze bust of York.

Wilson said the decision to return Lincoln to its original location followed years of public engagement and debate. “Reinterpretation, however earnest and well-founded by national experts, should never be forced by an act of destruction alone,” he said in the city’s announcement.

The 10-foot Lincoln sculpture was created by George Fite Waters and commissioned by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe. Its bronze base was significantly damaged when it fell. Conservators later found additional cracks and stress fractures, delaying its return. Repairs were completed in August 2025. Before reinstallation, the city plans to strengthen the original pedestal and the mechanism securing the sculpture, and add signage linking visitors to information about Lincoln and the monument’s history.

Portland’s decision on Lincoln does not settle the future of every damaged monument. The city says Roosevelt’s statue is in storage awaiting repair and is slated to return to the South Park Blocks. Washington’s statue also remains in storage and needs a new location. The Scott statue has been removed from the city’s public art collection, while Promised Land was returned to its artists in 2025.