Tag Archives: Park

A handy bench in Fern Hill

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The pocket park at the northwest corner of South 84th Street and Yakima Avenue in the Fern Hill District is charming. It has a couple of benches, a clock, a street light, thoughtful landscaping and some art. The hand bench is just plain fun and there is also a relief of the original Fern Hill School as seen in 1888. Most interesting is a historic marker that says S. 84th Street is an old covered wagon trail and was legally established as a road in 1852 to create an escape route in case of an Indian uprising.

  

Wards Lake Park in Lakewood

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The city of Lakewood has 10 parks and one game refuge and today I stopped at  Wards Lake Park at 2716 84th St South. I found it by following small sign off of S. 84th Street. This 20-acre park is a little oasis in a relatively built up part of town. It includes Wards Lake, a fishing pier, playground, picnic shelter and trail system. The lake doesn’t look conducive to swimming, but it is great for fishing and is very pretty. There is a short trail that leads back to some picnic tables and benches. And for the younger set there is a nice play area. I saw children playing on the big toys, an older guy fishing and a young couple getting to know each other.

Thea’s Park, Tacoma

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Thea's Park, Tacoma by Gexydaf

Yesterday’s new place was Thea’s Park, where my dear daughter and her classmates were having a picnic. I often forget about this little park because it isn’t part of Rustin Way and I don’t typically drive past it. But the setting makes it worth remembering! It has a great view of the grain elevator, the rail line, the Thea Foss Waterway, Mt. Rainier and the Port of Tacoma. In addition there is a peace pole, a giant globe, picnic tables and a boat ramp. That’s an awful lot for a park that is only 3 acres!

For more information, see the Park District web page. http://www.discoverparks.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ParkDetails&PropertyID=339

Norton Memorial Park, Tacoma

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The other day when going to King’s Books, I noticed a delightfully compact city park. Yes, I must have been by it hundreds of times, but that day I really took note of it. And today in the freezing cold I went back to take some photos. The triangularly shaped park is located at 99 Tacoma Avenue South and fronts on Tacoma Avenue South, Saint Helen’s and South 1st. It has been around since 1927 and was named in honor of Percy Dunbar Norton, a Tacoma businessman and city counsel member who died at the age of 44 in April of 1900. The small park includes a commemorative column, a concrete bench, a couple of planters, an old fashioned street light and a bright blue street clock from 1993, which was not keeping accurate time.

More information about the park, including a photograph from 1927 can be found here.
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?un=1&pg=1&address=99+TACOMA&stemming=&phonic=&fuzzy=&maxfiles=

Small parks like this one are often called pocket parks, as defined here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_park

Tom Schuster Memorial Park

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Today’s new place is the Tom Schuster Memorial Park, located on the southeast corner of McKinley Avenue East and East Division Lane. The original marker says Ray C. Roberts Post No. 969 V.F.W. and over that is a newer sign that says Tom Schuster Memorial Park. This is a relatively small park with some benches, a marker dedicating the park to veterans and a flag pole. It is nicely landscaped and well kept.

Information on the history of V.F.W. 969 can be found here http://webspace.webring.com/people/dv/vfw969/HistoryPost969.html

and their facebook site is here
http://www.facebook.com/pages/VFW-Post-969/450529600007#!/pages/VFW-Post-969/450529600007

Tacoma Public Library Northwest Room was kind enough to provide the following information. “The park was renamed in honor of Thomas M. Schuster, after his death on Nov. 5, 2000. According to his obituary, Tom Schuster was a lifetime member of the Ray C. Roberts Post #969 VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and had been very active with fundraising and numerous leadership duties within the VFW. His obituary states that he was “instrumental in acquiring the mini park near the post home, which is being renamed in his honor for the many accomplishments achieved with distinction as a #969 Comrade.”

http://www.tpl.lib.wa.us/Page.aspx?nid=7

 

Irving Park, more history than you’d think

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Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

 

I thought I’d best make some outside places my new place of the day, while I still have some daylight to work with. So, off I went to the 4+ acre Irving Park on Hosmer. It was a pretty typical park, a big field, restrooms, some playground equipment. I suspect what makes this park special is the view it has of Nalley Valley. But there was nobody in the park and I just wasn’t comfortable walking to the isolated area to check out the view. Maybe when I have company I’ll try that.

http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/page.php?id=664

The part is on the site of what use to be the Irving School, which was named after Washington Irving. The school was closed in 1930 and demolished in 1934. If you’d like to see a photo of some students from the Irving School in 1926, go here

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?un=11&krequest=subjects+contains+School+children+Tacoma+1920-1930&stemming=&phonic=&fuzzy=&maxfiles=

Lincoln-Eldridge Park

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Originally uploaded by Gexydaf
 
 
 
 

Today’s new place of the day is Lincoln-Eldridge Park in Tacoma. Until today, I hadn’t realize that the park had partially been developed by the Workers Progress Administration (WPA) and that part of the original park had been given to the Tacoma School District for the construction of the Lincoln Bowl.

http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/page.php?id=669

Tollefson Plaza

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Originally uploaded by Gexydaf Today’s new place of the day is Tollefson Plaza, across the street from the Tacoma Art Museum. Note the new 20′ native welcome figure, which was dedicated on 9/17/2010.

http://www.tollefsonplaza.com/

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/09/19/1347572/statue-unveiling-brings-tribe.html