Seattle’s park system was largely designed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm from Massachusetts. John Charles Olmsted created a master plan in 1903 that laid out a 20-mile-long system of parks and boulevards from Seward Park to Ravenna Park and west to Fort Lawton. Olmsted also encouraged the creation of playgrounds throughout the city so that all residents would have one within a half mile of their homes.
Seattle’s citizens were enthusiastic about Olmsted’s plan and passed $3.5 million in bond measures to enhance the city’s parks. Within eight years, Seattle’s park acreage had doubled, with the addition of such parks as Seward, Ravenna, Leschi, and Green Lake. The Olmsted firm continued its work for the city, and by 1937 had designed 37 parks and playgrounds, as well as the grounds for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.
From the guide to the Collection, 1903-1998, 1903-1927, (City of Seattle Seattle Municipal Archives)
