Denny Park (Seattle)
Encyclopedia
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
located in the South Lake Union
South Lake Union, Seattle, Washington
South Lake Union is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the south tip of Lake Union.The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Denny Triangle; Interstate 5 on the east, beyond which is Capitol Hill; Aurora...
neighborhood of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. It occupies the block bounded by John Street and Denny Way on the north and south and Dexter and 9th Avenues N. on the west and east.
History
Denny Park is Seattle's oldest park. In 1861 pioneer David DennyDenny Party
The Denny Party is a group of white pioneers credited with founding Seattle, Washington because they settled at Alki Point on November 13, 1851.A wagon party headed by Arthur A. Denny left Cherry Grove, Illinois on April 10, 1851...
donated the land to the city as Seattle Cemetery. In 1883, the graves wtere removed and the cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
was converted to a park, the city's first. By 1904, the surrounding area had become residential, and the park was improved with formally designed planting beds, swings and other play equipment, a sand lot and a play field. The Denny School, an elementary school, stood slightly southeast of the park from 1884 to 1928. Children were, from the earliest, regular users of the park.
Denny Regrade, Seattle, Washington
The Denny Regrade is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, USA, that stretches north of the central business district to the grounds of Seattle Center. Its generally flat terrain was originally a steep hill, taken down as part of a mammoth construction project in the first decades of the 20th...
. Between 1900 and 1931, the landscape of central Seattle was reshaped by a series of regrading projects
Regrading in Seattle
The topography of central Seattle was radically altered by a series of regrades in the city's 1st century of urban settlement, in what might have been the largest such alteration of urban terrain at the time....
. Denny Regrade No. 1, around 1910, lowered the land to the south and west of the park by some 60 feet (18.3 m). Some surviving Seattle pioneers successfully demanded that the park remain unchanged. The result, however, was that access to the park from the downtown side was impossible by car due to the grade. In Denny Regrade No. 2, around 1930, the park was graded flat and was once again planted in a formal style; the old Denny School was destroyed in the regrade, and its cupola was placed in the park as an historical marker.
In 1948, over the strenuous objections of the Denny family, a Parks and Recreation building was built within the park to house this growing city department. For several years, before all of the space was required for Parks personnel, the lower level of the new building housed the Washington Society for Crippled Children. By 1964, Parks Department personnel had fully inhabited the building.
Today, Denny Park is undergoing extensive renovation. Phase 1 (Play area and lighting) opened on May 2, 2009. Future phases include a new central water feature and a history element highlighting early Seattle (to join the existing statue of Mark A. Matthews
Mark A. Matthews
Mark A. Matthews was a Presbyterian minister in Seattle, Washington from 1902 until his death; Dale Soden characterizes him as "without question… the most influential Protestant clergyman in the Pacific Northwest in the first half of the twentieth century." He was an enigmatic figure, holding...
).
A diverse coalition of park supporters called Friends of Denny Park have invested many hours to bring their need for a safe and vital park environment to the attention of the City. This group is working, in partnership with City Departments, to revitalize the park to serve the children, families and other constituents who populate two of Seattle's fastest growing neighborhoods—South Lake Union
South Lake Union, Seattle, Washington
South Lake Union is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the south tip of Lake Union.The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Denny Triangle; Interstate 5 on the east, beyond which is Capitol Hill; Aurora...
and Denny Triangle.