History
Lincoln Reservoir was begun in 1889, in response to the Great Seattle fire of 1889, and completed in 1901. A parcel just south of it was named Lincoln Park the same year. The famed Olmsted Brothers designed the park, as part of their many works in the Seattle area. In 1908 it was developed as a playfield, and in 1922 its name was changed to Broadway Playfield so as not to duplicate the name of the new Lincoln Park in West Seattle. The playfield was named after Bobby Morris, former King County, Washington auditor, in 1980. Meanwhile, the area around the reservoir had come to be known as Lincoln Reservoir Park.
On April 10, 2003, the entire area was designated Cal Anderson Park after Washington's first openly gay state legislator. Anderson had died in 1995 of AIDS.
Rebuilding of the reservoir to convert it from open-air to covered started in April 2003 and lasted through summer 2005.
Three security cameras were installed in the park in April 2008 in an effort to combat certain types of criminal activity, namely vandalism, drug dealing, and public sex.
In 2004, World Naked Bike Ride Seattle established a tradition of stopping briefly in the park, usually in the midsection near the shelter house and water feature. Body Pride ride also began making stops in 2005.
In 2009, Forbes magazine recognized Cal Anderson Park as one of the 12 Best City Parks in the U.S.
Read more about this topic: Cal Anderson Park
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