Community Corner
THEN & NOW: O.O. Denny Park, 1936
The beautiful 46-acre park on Lake Washington at the foot of Finn Hill originally was the country retreat of Seattle pioneer Orion Orvil Denny.
Today’s busy, beautiful O.O. Denny Park on Lake Washington at the foot of Finn Hill has a long and interesting history, its 46 acres purchased as a country retreat more than 100 years ago by Seattle pioneer Orion Orvil Denny (1853-1916).
Shown in the photo here are one of two original log cabins built by Denny, along with the structure that served as his vacation residence. When he died in 1916, the park was willed by Denny’s widow to the city of Seattle, which operated it as a campsite for children, “who need to experience life in the green forest.”
By the time this photo from the archives of the Kirkland Heritage Society was taken about 1936 -- the photographer is unknown -- the residence was occupied by the park caretaker.
In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Depression-era agency created to provide jobs, had cleared the main campsite, added picnic areas and improved the trails winding uphill from the lake into the park’s old-growth forests.
Today nothing of the CCC picnic areas remains, but the trails still wind through the intact, stately forest and the park's many remaining huge, old Douglas fir and red cedar trees. Find an earlier Kirkland Patch story about the great hiking at the park today right here.
In 1954 the old Denny residence as torn down; exactly when the two log cabins were removed is uncertain. At some point, the park ceased being a summer campsite for kids, and in the late 1960s, King County took over management of the park.
During a budget crisis in 2002, the park was closed by the county, and local residents launched a campaign and voted to form today’s Finn Hill Park and Recreation District, which manages O.O. Denny for the city of Seattle.
Today the park is one of the crown jewels of Finn Hill’s natural areas -- others are Big Finn Hill Park and Saint Edward State Park -- its beach area busy during hot weather with swimmers and sunbathers and its forests hiked daily, year-round.
If Orion Orvil Denny could see it today, no doubt he would be quite pleased with his legacy.
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