Denny Park is a
park located in the
South Lake Union
South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union.
The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Den ...
neighborhood of
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
. It occupies the block bounded by John Street and
Denny Way
Denny Way is an east–west arterial street in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. It forms the northern end of the Belltown street grid as well as the boundaries of Belltown, Lower Queen Anne, South Lake Union, Denny Triangle, and ...
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 Denny
David Thomas Denny (March 17, 1832, Part II: Chapter 3, p. 203 – November 25, 1903) was a member of the Denny Party, who are generally collectively credited as the founders of Seattle, Washington, USA. Though he ultimately underwent bank ...
donated the land to the city as Seattle Cemetery. In 1883, the graves were removed and the
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
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.
The park originally stood on the north slope of
Denny Hill. Between 1900 and 1931, the landscape of central Seattle was reshaped by
a series of regrading projects. Denny Regrade No. 1, around 1910, lowered the land to the south and west of the park by some . 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 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.
Phase 1 (Play area and lighting) opened on May 2, 2009.
"Re-envision Denny Park"
Accessed online 5 May 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).
A coalition of park supporters called Friends of Denny Park advocates to city government for safety in the park. This group is working, in partnership with city departments, to revitalize the park to serve its users and the nearby neighborhoods South Lake Union
South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union.
The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Den ...
and Denny Triangle.
In 2020, a large homeless encampment grew in Denny Park, leading some local residents to avoid the park due to concerns over personal safety. Following a park cleanup by volunteer group We Heart Seattle, the city swept the remaining residents and their belongings from the park.
References
External links
Denny Park Restoration
Sherwood History Files
{{Authority control
1883 establishments in Washington Territory
Parks in Seattle
South Lake Union, Seattle