Department of Parks and Recreation Annual Reports, 1894-2003

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Parks and Recreation
Title
Department of Parks and Recreation Annual Reports
Dates
1894-2003 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.2 cubic feet
Collection Number
1802-H6
Repository
Seattle Municipal Archives
Seattle Municipal Archives
Office of the City Clerk
City of Seattle
PO Box 94728
98124-4728
Seattle, WA
Telephone: 2062337807
Fax: 2063869025
archives@seattle.gov
Access Restrictions

Records are open to the public.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Department of Parks and Recreation administers Seattle's parks system and community recreation programs. It maintains over 6000 acres of city parks, 20 miles of shoreline, and 22 miles of boulevards. The department operates the city's 25 community recreation centers, the Woodland Park Zoo, the Seattle Aquarium, nine swimming pools, a tennis center, and more than 400 smaller facilities. In addition, it is custodian for four public golf courses, three moorages, and several other athletic and cultural facilities.

In 1884 David Denny donated a five-acre tract that was the site of a cemetery to the City of Seattle, stipulating that it be designated a public park. The site, initially named Seattle Park and later renamed Denny Park, was the first ordinance-designated public park in Seattle. The ordinance that accepted the property (Ordinance 571) also made allowances for its conversion from a cemetery to a park and included a provision that three Park Commissioners be appointed to oversee the conversion. At that time, the City of Seattle was operating under its 1869 charter which provided for a relatively small government of 13 elected officials and three other officers, in whom all municipal authority was vested.

Legislation in 1887 (Ordinance 874) created the Board of Park Commissioners, consisting of three members to be appointed by Council, and who served three-year terms. This unpaid body was charged with all management responsibilities for Seattle's parks and was expected to report to Council as often as each quarter, making recommendations for improvements and for the acquisition of new properties.

In 1890 the City of Seattle adopted its first home-rule charter. The city's population had expanded from 3533 in 1880 to nearly 43,000. The new charter mandated a dramatically larger city government composed of 34 elected officials, 13 departments, and six regulatory commissions, including a Board of Park Commissioners. A park fund was also established, consisting of: proceeds from the sale of bonds issued for that purpose; gifts; appropriations made by Council; and 10% of the gross receipts from all fines, penalties, and licenses. The new Board of Park Commissioners, appointed by the Mayor, consisted of five paid ($300 per year) members who served five-year terms. Although the Board had all management responsibilities for Seattle's parks, including the authority to appoint a superintendent and to negotiate for property, Council retained the authority to purchase property.

In 1892 the Board appointed E. O. Schwagerl, a noted landscape architect and engineer, to be the second Superintendent of Parks. During the four years that he held the office, Schwagerl developed the first comprehensive plan for Seattle's parks. This plan may have guided Assistant City Engineer George F. Cotterill. Cotterill organized volunteers to construct 25 miles of bicycle paths, the routes of which were utilized by the Olmsted Brothers in their 1903 city-wide plan for a system of parks and boulevards.

In 1896 Seattle adopted a new home-rule charter. This charter redefined the Board of Park Commissioners as the Park Committee: five unpaid appointees who reported annually to Council. In addition, all management responsibilities of the parks, including the authority to obtain new properties, were vested with the City Council. The Superintendent of Parks position was eliminated and its responsibilities were assumed by the new Superintendent of Streets, Sewers, and Parks, one of the three members of the Board of Public Works.

In 1903, City Council adopted the Olmsted Brothers plan to expand and develop a system of parks and boulevards. At the same time, the Charter was amended, re-establishing the Board of Park Commissioners and giving it the kind of independence that park commissions in the metropolitan cities of the East enjoyed. While Council retained the authority to approve the purchase of property, the Board assumed all management responsibilities of the parks, as well as the exclusive authority to spend park fund monies. In addition, all park-related authority was removed from the Board of Public Works, and the Board of Park Commissioners elected to appoint a superintendent. Public support, both for the implementation of the Olmsted plan as well as for the new, empowered Board, was substantial. In 1905 a $500,000 park bond was passed; followed by $1,000,000 in 1908; $2,000,000 in 1910; and $500,000 in 1912.

In 1907 the Superintendent was joined by a new staff position, the Assistant Superintendent, and in the following year the first directorship, Playgrounds Director, was created. In 1912 the first full-time engineer appeared under the title Chief Engineer, later to be changed to Park Engineer. By 1922 a Head Gardener had been appointed, and two more directorships created: the Zoo Director and the Bathing Beaches Director.

In 1925 the charter was amended such that no more money could be spent in the acquisition of park properties than was available through the park fund. In that same year, the Park Engineer was replaced by a new position, the Landscape Architect. In 1926 the Board abolished the position of Superintendent, distributing that position's responsibilities between the Head Gardener and the Landscape Architect. In 1927 the position title of Park Engineer was re-established, but with the duties and responsibilities of the old superintendent, while the new Junior Park Engineer directly managed engineering and construction activity.

In 1926 Mayor Bertha K. Landes appointed a Municipal Recreation Committee, comprised of Park Board members, School Board members, and a representative of the community at large, to analyze ways in which they could cooperatively contribute to the municipal recreation program. The Committee submitted its report to the Mayor in January 1928. The report detailed which facilities were provided by the Park Board and which by the School Board; how the facilities could be more efficiently utilized; and what additional facilities were required.

A ten-year plan for the Department of Parks was announced in 1931. This plan, based upon a projected population for the Seattle metropolitan area in 1940, was a program of development aimed at making better use of existing properties, adding to those properties that needed more space, and acquiring new properties in those parts of town that were experiencing growth. Much of this plan would be realized by the Works Projects Administration later in the decade.

In 1939 administration of playground programs and bathing beaches was consolidated under the newly created position. In 1940, with the opening of the West Seattle Golf Course (the city's third municipal golf course) the position of Golf Director was established. A 1948 Charter amendment required the Board of Park Commissioners to appoint a park superintendent, and the position was to be excluded from the classified civil service.

A Charter amendment in 1967 reconstituted the Board of Park Commissioners as an advisory body to the Mayor, Council, the renamed Department of Parks and Recreation, and other City agencies. The amendment placed the fiscal and operational admistration of the department under the control of the Superintendent of Parks, who was now appointed by the Mayor to serve a four-year term. The specific duties of both the Superintendent and the Board, as well as the number of members and term length for the latter, were to be prescribed by ordinance. Council passed an ordinance in 1968 (Ordinance 96453) which defined the Board as a seven-member body with three-year terms of service.

The $65 million Forward Thrust bond was approved by voters in 1968. By 1974, with matching funds, interest, etc., it had grown to 92 million dollars in working capital; by 1976, over 40 new properties had been obtained by the Department of Parks and Recreation utilizing these funds. Forward Thrust and the Seattle Model City Program together supported the largest expansion of the Park system in Seattle history. These programs funded more than 70 new parks and park facilities.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Included with the early reports are board of Parks Commissioners reports. Progress in various parks throughout the city is recorded as well as suggestions for further improvements. The 1909 report is one of the first to be published and includes photographs, a description of each park, and a report by the first supervisor of playgrounds. Later reports include maps. The 1930 report covers the years 1923 to 1930 and includes a history of the Parks Department and a list of Park Commissioners. Reports include updates on park construction and maintenance projects as well as information on programs and recreational events.

Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top

CF Project. A Comptroller or Clerk File (CF) can consist of correspondence, reports, petitions, contracts, agreements, etc. from elected officials, City departments, other government agencies, or the general public, which have been placed "on file" with the Office of the City Clerk (OCC). They are primarily permanent records, but also include routine material which is periodically purged. Beginning in 1987, certain archival records identified in the CF have been removed, arranged into records series, and incorporated into the collection of the Seattle Municipal Archives, a program of the OCC. A single accession number, 1987-048, was assigned to the transfer of the CF to the Archives. The initial transfer included records dating from 1895. These records remain in the CF series until approximately 15 years after they were filed with the OCC, at which point they are removed to the Archives. The transfer of CF records to the Archives is routine and regular. New accession numbers are not created when these transfers are made.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

[Item and date], Department of Parks and Recreation Annual Reports, Record Series 1802-H6 Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1894
1 1 Parks Department Annual Report (Expenditures) 1895
1 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1895
1 2 Parks Committee Annual Report 1897
1 3 Parks Commissioners Annual Report: Melody Choir 1901
1 3 Parks Commissioners Annual Report: CDC Williams 1901
1 3 Parks Department Annual Report 1903
1 3 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1904
1 3 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1905
1 3 Parks Department Annual Report 1907-1908
1 4 Parks Commissioners Annual Report (published and unpublished) 1909
1 5 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1910
1 5 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1910
1 5 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1911
1 6 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1912
1 6 Parks Commissioners Annual Report (published and unpublished) 1913
1 7 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1914-1915
1 7 Parks Commissioners, Board of Annual Report 1916
1 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1918
1 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1921
1 9 Parks Commissioners Annual Report (published and unpublished) 1884-1922
1 10 Parks Commissioners Annual Report includes "Improvements to the Park System" for 1924-1928 1923
1 11 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1926
1 11 Parks Commissioners Annual Report (Financial Report) 1928
1 11 Parks Department Annual Report 1923-1930
1 11 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1927
1 11 Parks Department Annual Report 1929
1 11 Parks Department Annual Report 1930
2 1 Parks Department Annual Report, Financial Statement 1932
2 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1931
2 1 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1932
2 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1933
2 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1934
2 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1935
2 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1936
2 2 Parks Department Annual Report 1937
2 2 Parks Department Annual Report 1938
2 2 Parks Department Annual Report 1939
2 2 Parks Department Annual Report 1940
2 2 Parks Department Annual Report 1941
2 2 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1942
2 2 Parks Department Annual Report 1943
2 3 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1944
2 3 Parks Commissioners Annual Report 1946
2 3 Parks Department Annual Report 1947
2 3 Parks Department Annual Report 1948
2 4 Parks Department Annual Report 1949
2 4 Parks Department Annual Report 1950
2 5 Parks Department Annual Report 1951
2 5 Parks Department Annual Report 1951
2 5 Parks Department Annual Report 1952
2 6 Parks Department Annual Report 1953
2 6 Parks Department Annual Report 1954
3 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1955
3 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1956
3 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1957
3 1 Parks Department Annual Report 1958
3 2 Parks Department Annual Report 1959
3 2 Parks Department Annual Report 1960
3 3 Parks Department Annual Report 1961
3 3 Parks Department Annual Report 1962
3 4 Parks Department Annual Report 1963
3 5 Parks Department Annual Report 1964
3 5 Parks Department Annual Report 1965
3 6 Parks Department Annual Report 1966
3 6 Parks Department Annual Report 1967
3 6 Parks Department Annual Report 1968
3 6 Parks Department Annual Report 1969
3 7 Parks Department Annual Report 1970
3 7 Parks Department Annual Report 1971
3 7 Parks Department Annual Report 1972
3 7 Parks Department Annual Report 1973
3 7 Parks Department Annual Report 1974
3 7 Parks Department Annual Report 1975
3 7 Parks Department Annual Report 1976
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1977
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1978
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1979-1980
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1981
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1982
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1983
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1984
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1986
3 8 Parks Department Annual Report 1985
3 9 Parks Department Annual Report 2002
3 9 Parks Department Annual Report 2003

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Parks
  • Playgrounds and Playfields
  • Recreational Activities
  • Sports
  • Woodland Park Zoo

Corporate Names

  • Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Parks and Recreation

Geographical Names

  • Seattle
  • Seattle (Wash.)