97 years ago today…

Sherwood Gillespy (1853-1912) was an early advocate for municipal golf in Seattle, and is commemorated by a statue in front of the golf clubhouse in Jefferson Park. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.
On May 12, 1915, the Jefferson Park Municipal Golf Course opened here on Beacon Hill. It was the first municipal golf course in Seattle. 97 years later, the golf course still operates, and still draws golfers from throughout the area to enjoy a bit of Beacon Hill.

You can read a HistoryLink.org essay about the course here. Here’s another essay with more detail about the course.

Thanks to neighbor Corinna Laughlin for pointing out this anniversary to us.

3 thoughts on “97 years ago today…”

  1. The Jefferson Park golf course has a great history. Of course including the many changes of the old
    Club House to what it is today.
    Nothing more has been said,about the further changes which brought up many opinions and discussion a few months ago.

    Again, it is the only Parks and Recreation property that makes a profit or breaks even, as I have heard. Perhaps in the Club House renewal, they can maintain the old architectual facade build on more space in the same mode and improve the much needed changes in the interior.

    To digress, remember the dedication and open house of the beautifully refurbished and improved Fire Station 13 at the corner on Beacon Ave.So. ON SATURDAY ,MAY 19th. 11AM TO 1PM.

    Also coming soon will be the grand openings for the OAK bar and restaurant and the new TIPPE & DRAGUE bar and lounge.
    The new TAQUERIA is also celebrating it’s Grand Opening at Beacon Ave. and the 15th, Ave intersection just east of ENAYS .

  2. 2012 is also the 100 year anniversary of the original 1912 Olmsted Preliminary Plan of Jefferson Park. The 1912 Olmsted plan has the very first design for the Jefferson Park Golf course, originally drawn as a nine hole course. Later, the Scottish golf course architect Thomas Bendalow redesigned the course as the 18 hole layout we see today. Most of the original layout remains as it was 97 years ago, including the fairways and location and orientation of the golf clubhouse.

    Here is a Seattle Department of Neighborhoods page from the 2000 historical resources survey that describes the Clubhouse this way:
    “Significance.
    In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places.”

    http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/historicalsite/QueryResult.aspx?ID=1982607580

  3. Happy birthday, Jefferson Park golf course! I may not play the game, but the people who work in your clubhouse make a mean BLT sammich, so I love you anyway. <3 😀

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