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For more than a century Volunteer Park has been the center of Seattle's park system.
Though the city began purchasing this site along the crown of Capitol
Hill in 1876, more than 15 years passed before the municipal government
began to clear the land. Improvements accelerated after the turn of the
century, when Seattle joined many other American cities in creating extensive
networks of parks. In 1903, the Olmsted Brothers, America's most famous
landscape architects, issued a comprehensive plan for parks, boulevards
and playgrounds throughout Seattle. Named to honor the men who had enlisted
to fight in the Spanish-American War, Volunteer Park featured classic
examples of Olmsted design: adaptations to and reflections of the land's
natural features, plantings added so cleverly they seemed native to the
site, curving paths that provided ever-changing vistas and the inclusion
of recreation facilities such as playgrounds. Their proposal that the
park include an observation tower was fulfilled in 1906, when the city
built a water tower whose deck, open to the public, provided panoramic
views of downtown, the harbor and the Cascade and Olympic Ranges. Between
1906 and 1912 the citizens of Seattle authorized several million dollars
in bond issues to fulfill most, though not all, of the Olmsteds' proposals
for Volunteer Park and the rest of the city. Since that time Volunteer
Park has received a number of additions: a conservatory for exotic plants,
five supporting greenhouses and an art museum (now specializing in Asian
Art). Today the 48-acre site remains Seattle's most intensively used park,
welcoming those interested in flora, fine arts, recreation or simply a
quiet break from a busy city.
Volunteer Park is located at 1400 East Prospect St. and is open
to the public. It is jointly owned and maintained by the Department
of Parks and Recreation and the Water Department. For more information
call 206-684-4075 or visit their website.
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Conservatory in Volunteer Park
Photograph courtesy of Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation
The Water Tower in 1930
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![[graphic heading] Seattle: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary, National Park Servicer](graphics/sheader.gif "[graphic heading] Seattle: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary, National Park Servicer")
