Looking Back:
A History of the Washington Park Arboretum
Celebrate the long history of the Washington Park Arboretum by taking a stroll down memory lane. Learn about turn of the twentieth century movers and shakers at UW who created the living museum we love today.
See also Audio Clips from an Oral History of the Washington Park Arboretum and the Center for Urban Horticulture. Additional historic documents are linked from the UW Botanic Gardens' Master Plans and History page.
A System of Botanical Sequences
Taxonomy in the Arboretum
Prophet, Agitator, Statesman
Edmond S. Meany
False Starts
Early Development of an Arboretum
Humble Roots
The Arboretum's Shaky Beginnings
Why Not the Arboretum?
The Works Progress Administration
Your Gain Would Be Our Loss
Brian O. Mulligan
A Legacy of Learning
The Elisabeth C. Miller Library
The Ditch and the Cut
History of Washington Park
Horses, Cars, & Guns
Sport in the Arboretum
City, State, & Community
The Arboretum Agreement
The Arboretum a Century Hence
Herbert Gowen's Vision
Ordered Urban Wilderness
The Olmsted Brothers
New Directions
Recent Developments
Researched, designed and written by Taylor Felt, MA Museology
Images from the UW Special Collections, Museum of History and Industry and City of Seattle Municipal Archives
