Do you recall the carefree summer days of the 60s when children played in the streets and bicycled around? In those days, people were more connected to their neighbors, and history was visible around every street corner. In both small towns and large cities, one could accidentally come across peculiar objects that were installed into the sidewalks—metal circles made of iron or brass.

To many, they appeared to be relics of a lost age, evoking images of horse-drawn carriages and a more leisurely world.

Picture streets full of carriages, the sound of horses’ hooves as they were tied to these rings while their owners went about their business. Previous articles in The Register-Guard from 1978 indicate that these rings could be from the early 1900s. Regardless of their exact age, they provided residents with a convenient means of housing their horses, indicating that cities were once built with horses in mind.

These rings have now become valuable historical relics in Portland, Oregon. Before the late 1970s, they were usually taken down for protection when sidewalks were under construction. However, in 1978, there was a complaint from a Portland resident that made people appreciate these rings again. City Commissioner Connie McCready responded by permitting homeowners to request the replacement of these rings at a cost of $5 to keep a part of history.

These horse rings not only served a practical purpose but also held cultural importance. They denote an age where transport was a shared undertaking and cities were laid out to meet the needs of a society that revolved around horse-drawn carriages. The preservation of these rings is an indication of society’s understanding of history and appreciation of urban heritage.

In recent years, these rings have become popular in Portland and have been adopted by the city as part of its culture. People have begun to attach model horses to the rings and create art objects that can be touched, attracting people’s attention and sparking discussions about the city. This movement, known as The Horse Project, started in 2005 in the Woodstock neighborhood and has evolved into an annual event that transforms these functional objects into art pieces that represent the community.

Discussing horse rings is like telling stories about the good old days; it is a method of cherishing the little things that truly define the towns and cities we live in. These rings are not mere pieces of metal cast in concrete; they are chroniclers of a period when time was slow and the world was kinder.