Last updated: June 6, 2024
Place
Jefferson Park Tract
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Seattle miner and real estate developer Albert C. Frost hired Olmsted Brothers in 1924 to create a subdivision plan for his Jefferson Park Tract. While John Charles Olmsted usually handled designs in the Pacific Northwest, his death four years earlier gave associate partner James Frederick Dawson a chance to lead a design. Dawson had already done extensive work in Seattle, with John Charles, and he created several preliminary plans for the Jefferson Park Tract.
The subdivision would encompass land next to Jefferson Park Golf Course, so Dawson explored several possibilities for the land. A preliminary plan of March 17th, 1925 included the nine hole golf course, a clubhouse, and an additional 101 lots for homes, many bordering the golf course. One month later, a new plan had lots along curved drives on hillsides, and straighter streets in the valley area.
Unfortunately, Dawson’s plan was never carried out and the hillside portion of the tract was acquired by the City of Seattle. Today, what would have been Jefferson Park Tract is part of the Cheasty Greenspace, the largest wooded parkland located in the Rainier Valley.
Source: "Jefferson Park Tract," Olmsted Online
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
The subdivision would encompass land next to Jefferson Park Golf Course, so Dawson explored several possibilities for the land. A preliminary plan of March 17th, 1925 included the nine hole golf course, a clubhouse, and an additional 101 lots for homes, many bordering the golf course. One month later, a new plan had lots along curved drives on hillsides, and straighter streets in the valley area.
Unfortunately, Dawson’s plan was never carried out and the hillside portion of the tract was acquired by the City of Seattle. Today, what would have been Jefferson Park Tract is part of the Cheasty Greenspace, the largest wooded parkland located in the Rainier Valley.
Source: "Jefferson Park Tract," Olmsted Online
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr