Lake Oswego, OR

At the site of the first iron furnace on the west coast, the Oswego Furnace, lie some relics known as “salamanders.”

These plugs of pig iron once threatened to clog up the works of the iron foundry and had to be removed with great effort. Named after a mythical amphibian that rose from fire, the salamanders now squat amongst the manicured grasses in a quaint historical park along the Willamette River.

The park is also home to the preserved original iron furnace from 1866, and connects with a series of trails that border the river and waterways.