Gas Works Park
National Register of Historic Places

Gas Works Park

Seattle, King County, Washington
Listed
January 2, 2013
Type
District
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
02000862

About this property

Gas Works Park is a park located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It has a 19.1-acre (77,000 m2) public park on the site of the former Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant, located on the north shore of Lake Union at the south end of the Wallingford neighborhood. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 2, 2013, over a decade after being nominated. Gas Works Park contains remnants of the sole remaining coal gasification plant in the United States. The plant operated from 1906 to 1956 and was bought by the city of Seattle for use as a park in 1962. The park opened to the public in 1975. It was designed by Seattle landscape architect Richard Haag, who won the American Society of Landscape Architects Presidents Award of Design Excellence for the project. The plant's conversion into a park was completed by Daviscourt Construction Company of Seattle. It was originally named Myrtle Edwards Park, after the city councilwoman who had spearheaded the drive to acquire the site, who died in a car crash in 1969. In 1972, the Edwards family requested that her name be removed from that of the park because the design called for the retention of the plant. In 1976, Elliott Bay Park (just north of Seattle's Belltown neighborhood) was renamed Myrtle Edwards Park. Since 2008, the park's industrial towers have been the site of at least 14 documented fall-related incidents resulting in three deaths and numerous life-threatening injuries, prompting an ongoing legal and preservation dispute over whether to remove the structures' ladders, catwalks, and platforms.

Location

2000 N. Northlake Way
Seattle, King County, Washington
47.64575, -122.38876

Categories

INDUSTRYLANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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The Land
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Geology
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Conflict & War
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The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
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The Community
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Rivers & Rail
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Nearby Historic Sites

Magnolia Public Library
Industrial
0.6 mi
Admiral's House, 13th Naval District
Industrial
0.9 mi
Ballard Bridge
Industrial
1.3 mi
W. T. PRESTON (snagboat)
Industrial
1.4 mi
Ballard Avenue Historic District
Listed
1.5 mi

Nearby Battles

Puget Sound War — Battle of Seattle (January 26, 1856)
1856Indian Wars
3.8 mi
Yakama War — Battle of Seattle
1856Indian Wars
3.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Gas Works Park listed on the National Register?

Gas Works Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 2, 2013.

What type of historic resource is Gas Works Park?

Gas Works Park is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Gas Works Park?

The period of significance for Gas Works Park is recorded as the civil_war era.

Can I research the history near Gas Works Park?

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