Oaks Park Roller Skating Rink

Roller skating to the sound of a live pipe organ? Only in Portland.

Opened in 1906, Oaks Park Roller Rink is the oldest continuously operating roller rink in the United States—and the last in the world where visitors can still skate to the music of a live pipe organ. Its 100×200-foot maple floor has survived floods, fads, and more than a century of waltzes and two-steps. After the catastrophic 1948 Vanport flood, engineers rebuilt the floor on airtight iron barrels so it could float if the waters returned. And they did—most notably in 1964 and 1996—with the rink rising just as it was designed to do.

The music began with orchestras in the balcony, but since 1955 the soundtrack has come from a 1926 Wurlitzer pipe organ originally built for Portland’s Broadway Theater. Today, organists like Keith Fortune and Marc Gerlack carry on the tradition, leading public skating sessions on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons and evenings.

From Depression-era price cuts and Junior Clubs, to its preservation under the nonprofit Oaks Park Association, this rink is more than a relic. It’s a time capsule that still spins in circles—wheels humming, pipes singing, disco lights turning overhead.