Visiting With Your Dog
The dog park belongs to the Seattle Parks and Recreation system and is recorded through City of Seattle data. Rules, hours and the exact layout of the dog area can change, so check with Seattle Parks and Recreation before you head out for the latest details.
Weighing a few options for your next outing together? Our roundup of all dog parks in Seattle points you to other spots across the city.
From Pioneer Cemetery to First Park
The story here starts with generosity. Pioneer David Denny donated the land to the city in 1861, and it first served as Seattle Cemetery. Once the graves were moved in 1883, the ground became a park, the first one Seattle ever had.
As homes filled in around it by 1904, the city added formal planting beds, swings and other play equipment, a sand lot and a play field. Children were among its most regular visitors from the beginning, thanks in part to the Denny School, an elementary school that stood just southeast of the park from 1884 to 1928.
Shaped by the Denny Regrades
Picture the park perched on the north slope of Denny Hill. Between 1900 and 1931, a series of regrading projects flattened and reshaped central Seattle, and the park landed right in the middle of the work.
Regrade No. 1: Holding Its Ground
Around 1910, the first Denny Regrade dropped the land south and west of the park by about 60 feet. Surviving Seattle pioneers pushed to keep the park as it was, and they won. The tradeoff was that the steep grade left cars unable to reach the park from the downtown side.
Regrade No. 2: Leveled and Replanted
Around 1930, the second regrade leveled the park, which was then planted once again in a formal style. The same project demolished the old Denny School, and its cupola was moved into the park as a historical marker.
Monuments and a Parks Headquarters
As you stroll the grounds, keep an eye out for the bust of Mark A. Matthews, a minister and activist, installed in 1941.
In 1948, over objections from the Denny family, the city built a Parks and Recreation building inside the park to house its growing department. For several years the lower level was home to the Washington Society for Crippled Children, and by 1964 Parks Department staff had taken over the entire building.
Recent Updates and Community Care
A renovated play area and new lighting opened on May 2, 2009, as the first phase of improvements. Later phases were planned to bring a central water feature and a history element about early Seattle beside the Matthews statue.
A coalition called Friends of Denny Park advocates to city government for safety in the park. The group works with city departments so the park serves its users and the surrounding neighborhoods, including South Lake Union and the Denny Triangle.
Sights Just Steps Away
Several Seattle landmarks sit within a few blocks, so it is easy to pair a dog walk with a little sightseeing:
- 777 Thomas St, less than 0.1 mile away
- Elephant Car Wash Sign, about 0.2 mile away
- 901 Harrison St, about 0.2 mile away
- Seattle-First National Bank, about 0.2 mile away
- Street Clock: West Earth Co., about 0.2 mile away
- Seattle Monorail, about 0.2 mile away
- Terry Avenue Building, about 0.2 mile away
These distances are straight-line, so expect your actual walking route to run a little longer.
