Situated on the Duwamish River, South Park has a rich tradition of farming and industry. It was along these banks that the Duwamish tribe set up fishing camps and grew crops, a practice that continued with generations of farmers who were drawn to the fertile land. Seattle’s Pick Place Market got its start in 1907 when South Park farmers set up the now famous open-air market. With the first land claim in 1851, South Park has become home to some of Seattle’s original settlers. Today its diverse history has made it one of the few Seattle neighborhoods to be divided into both industrial and residential land zones.

More history of South Park:

• The first South Park bridge
• An Interview with John and Robin Guevarra in June 2010 (Bridge and SP History)

South Park Timeline

1800s	The area surrounding present-day South Park was used extensively by the Duwamish tribe for fishing and farming
1851	Eli Maple, one of the first settlers to the area, staked a claim that included most of present day South Park
1853	The first ferry license was obtained for passage over the Duwamish River
1854	Henry Van Asselt became South Park’s first naturalized citizen
1866	US Indian Agent recommends to the government that a reservation be established for the Duwamish tribe.  Seattle residents petition
1871	Over 8 families who had settled along the Duwamish River moved away because of a Native American attack scare
1873	The people of South Park decided to construct their own railroad after the city of Seattle decided that the existing one would not
1891	The Grant Street Electric Railway extended a trolley line from Seattle to South Park, crossing over the Duwamish River on 8th Ave
1903	The town of South Park petitions Congress to straighten and deepen the Duwamish River to make it easier to navigate and less prone
1906	The town of South Park begins the process to annex to the city of Seattle. It was officially annexed in 1907.
1913	The Duwamish River is straightened by the Army Corps of Engineers
1920	The Bowing Airplane Company begins building airplanes for the U.S. military, creating a population increase in the neighborhood.
1931	Several of the streets and sidewalks of South Park were paved and maples tress were planted
1955	The Washington State Pollution Control Commission investigates the pollution in the “green” Duwamish River
1956	South Park is rezoned as “transitioning the area to complete industrial use”
1965	4,000 South Park residents stage a protest at city hall. Some residential zoning was saved.
1970	Historic Our Lady of Lourdes was abandoned and demolished. Construction of Highway 99 slices the neighborhood in half.
1974	A cracked transformer case releases 255 gallons of 100 percent PCB transformer oil into the Duwamish Waterway. Final cleanup of se
1978	Duwamish Waterway Park at Tenth and Kenyon is dedicated
1991	Federal consent establishes the Elliot Bay and Duwamish River Restoration Program. The city of Seattle and King County will spend
2001	The EPA places the lower Duwamish Waterway on its National Priorities List
2001	The Bush administration voids the Duwamish Tribe’s federal recognition; a struggle for the Duwamish since the 1970s
2004	King County removes 66,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments from the Duwamish
2007	The South Park Library opens
2010	The South Park Bridge closes