History
The park site was originally planned by the State of Washington for state university use. In 1892, it was the site of a "pesthouse," or isolation hospital. In 1898, the land was sold to the city of Seattle, with plans to build a reservoir and a cemetery. In 1908, the park was named for Thomas Jefferson.
The Olmsted Brothers included the park in their comprehensive plan for Seattle parks, and designed the 18 hole golf course which opened in 1915.
During World War II, Jefferson Park contained anti-aircraft batteries, and was requisitioned by the U.S. Army for a G.I. recreation center, with recreation facilities, a gym, and tent housing for soldiers and visiting family.
In the post war years, the park returned to normal; the Army structures were mostly removed, though a new Veterans' Administration hospital was built on the site of the original 9-hole golf course. (A replacement 9-hole course was built elsewhere in the park.) A lawn bowling green and playgrounds were also constructed at this time.
This is also the home course of golfing great Fred Couples.
Read more about this topic: Jefferson Park (Seattle)
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“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)
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—Ben C. Bradlee (b. 1921)