Schmitz Park, also known as Schmitz Preserve Park, is a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

around 15 blocks east of

Alki Point Alki Point is a point jutting into Puget Sound, the westernmost landform in the West Seattle district of Seattle, Washington. Alki is the peninsular neighborhood on Alki Point. Alki was the original settlement in what was to become the city of S ...

in West Seattle, Washington. It features

Schmitz Park Creek Schmitz Park Creek is a stream in the West Seattle neighborhood of Seattle, Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government ...

and one of the last stands of

old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

in the city. The Lushootseed name for the area that is now the park is , meaning "place of disease." Ferdinand and Emma Schmitz donated of the park to the city in 1908. They wanted their land to be used as a park. (Ferdinand was a German immigrant who moved to Seattle in 1887 and was the city's Parks Commissioner from 1908 to 1914). Additions to the park were purchased in 1909, 1930, 1947, and 1958, making the park grow over 20 more acres (8 ha). In 1949, a "preservation policy" was applied to Schmitz Park. It stated that only foot trails were allowed and all signs were to be removed from inside the park's borders. This policy still remains today. In 1953, Schmitz Park Elementary School opened to the public. The school sits adjacent to Schmitz Park. In January 2018 Seattle City Council Bill No. CB 119169 authorized the purchase of a 5,000-sq. ft. lot at the southeast edge of the park from Bruce Stotler for $225,000, less than half its assessed value.

External links

Parks Department page on Schmitz Park
* {{coord, 47, 34, 27.6, N, 122, 24, 0.1, W, display=title Parks in Seattle West Seattle, Seattle 1908 establishments in Washington (state)