Seattle's Front Lawn

 

I originally made this blended image for the Queen Anne Historical Society a couple years ago. The older image is by prolific Seattle photographer Asahel Curtis and dates to the early 1930s. The later image is courtesy of a historical society trustee. The view is, of course, from Kerry Park, one of the most well-known and beloved prospects in the city.

In the 1920s the undeveloped lot was already a popular spot for its panoramic view of downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay, and (on a good day) Mount Rainier. When a developer proposed building an apartment in the late 1920s alarmed neighbors, including lumber baron Albert S. Kerry, took action. Homeowners near the park collected between five and six thousand dollars to purchase the land for a city park. Kerry and his wife Katherine put up the remaining $20,000.

Maintenance and beautification were undertaken by neighborhood volunteers at first. Starting in the 1930s the Seattle Parks Department gradually added benches, a drinking fountain and, eventually, a walkway connecting Kerry Park to Bayview-Kinnear Park below.

In the late 1940s the city thought it might sell part of the land. City engineer A.C. Van Soelen found that when the lot was bequeathed to the city for the grand sum of one dollar it came with a clear stipulation: The land could only be used as a public park. Van Soelen seemed put out, saying the odd triangular lot was totally unsuitable for a park, and adding it “looks like someone’s front lawn.”

Kerry Park proved more than suitable. It remained popular and the little 1.5-acre location on Queen Anne still serves up its iconic view today. When a TV show or film set in Seattle needs an image of the city, Kerry Park often provides it. When the sitcom Fraser needed a backdrop for the title character’s fictional apartment, the show used an image taken from this vantage point. Ironic, given the park was built, in part, to prevent an apartment from existing there in the first place. Most would agree that Kerry Park’s lasting value has been tremendous for a “front lawn,” and a great return on that dollar.

CK