Gas Works Park: A Popular Park Boasting Its Uniqueness Like No Other

Gas Works Park History

Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, Gas Works Park has become the city's landmark and a monument where people can be back to the memory land in the past when the industrial era started to become a citizen's part of life. The towers, pipes, and tanks are mingling around in the park as evidence that a great structure was ever made by mankind.

Early in the 20th century, the Seattle Gas Light Company start to purchase land on the shore of Lake Union which is used as an important trade hub some years before. And in 1906 the coal gas plant begins its operation and keep purchasing more land at the north shore.

On the other hand, Olmsted Brothers (a company which works on influential landscape architectural firm in United State) in 1903, recommended that the land between the northeast and northwest arms of the Lake Union should be used as a local park where the citizen can doing something fun while enjoying the view of the lake, boating, or playing at the playground.

After some decades supplied the gas for the households, the gas production was stopped to operate in 1956 but the remaining production structure is still kept in its place until, in 1962, the city of Seattle began to purchase the land.

Going through so many considerations and public discussions, the land was planned to be rebuilt as a public park which still using the original structure as the landmark. The man behind the master plan of Gas Works Park is Richard Haag.

Gas Works Park Seattle

Firstly opened as a public park in 1975, the Gas Works Park was bordered by Northlake Avenue at north and neighbor with the Lake Union at the east and south. In detail, the park was divided into seven areas, there are Picnic Lawn and Shelter, Prow, South Lawn, Play Barn, Earth Mound, North Lawn, and Towers.

This unique park in the city of Seattle is always packed with tourist who wants to have a leisure time to mesmerizing the view of the Lake Union and at the same time want to know more about one of the industrial archeology which makes Seattle become a city where one of the nation's most advance pieces of urban landscape design took place. 

Through the design of the park, you will be able to feel the dramatic and historic vibes with the lake breeze which leads you falling more deep into feeling.

The most notable area of the Gas Works Park is Great Earth Mound which mostly used as a community gathering for the locals, flying kite, or just simply for strolling. The Downton of Seattle made this public park more intriguing for photography enthusiasts, so, you need to catch the beauty of the city skyline right from the spot you are standing in the park.

Surely, you need to enjoy your leisure time with your kids by doing a picnic on its picnic shelter which made of the reconstructed from the boiler house. Magically, the former exhauster-compressor building was also transformed into an open-air play barn that would be perfect for your kiddos to running in the middle of the maze of machinery.

If you want to make sure to secure a picnic shelter in the Gas Works Park, you may make a reservation in advance through their official website.

Gas Works Park Events

For many years, the park already becomes the hottest place to do some important events, and in the city such as the Fourth of July fireworks in 2009, the endpoint of the Solstice Cyclists, and the start point for Seattle's World Naked Bike Ride.