Don't Fail to See Ravenna (or Big Tree Park), 1909

• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1909
• Subjects: Parks > Washington (State) > Seattle Trees > Washington (State) > Seattle; Beck; Coman; Pacific; Union Bay; Yukon; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/11904

Seattle's Ravenna Park was among the few areas that escaped the logger's ax in the late 1800s, thus preserving stunning examples of giant old-growth Douglas Firs. Centered around a stream that ran from Green Lake to Union Bay, the park opened in 1887 as Ravenna Springs Park, named for the Italian town which sits beside an ancient forest. Owners William Wirt Beck (1851-1944), a Presbyterian minister, and his wife, Louise (Coman) Beck (1861-1928), a music teacher, wanted to provide city dwellers with a natural utopia and featured walking paths amongst the massive trees as well as mineral springs touted for their supposed healthful qualities. The City of Seattle bought the park in 1911, and subsequently lowered the lake that fed its stream and cut down many magnificent trees. Today a community group, Ravenna Creek Alliance, works to protect and restore the city park and the adjacent Cowen Park. The brochure pictured here appears to have been distributed to tourists visiting Seattle for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which took place on the University of Washington Campus, just seven blocks south of the park. Caption information source: "Ravenna Park (Seattle)" by Peter Blecha, HistoryLink.org Essay 9559. Caption information source: "Ravenna Park," The Seattle Times, November 28, 1982, p. 317. 1 leaflet (4 p.); 3.5 x 6.25 in.