If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 23

Volunteer Park Water Tower, ca 1911

I’m almost always on the lookout for vintage postcards and happened upon this one after the previous postcard Thursday about Volunteer Park in Seattle was posted. This card shows the Water Tower and what I think is one of the Koi ponds with plants all around it (bottom right of card). It is astounding to see places as they were a hundred years ago in comparison to what it looks like today. Today there are so many huge trees on the grounds by the Koi ponds and the large open grassy area in front of the Tower is no longer as expansive. The date on the reverse of the card is written as 1911 or about a year before the Conservatory was completed. The Tower was built of red brick in 1906 and has had a few repairs and improvements over the years, as one would expect. There are 106 steps to the observation level but once up there the views are splendid from all the windows. There are also interpretive displays concerning the Tower and the parks and boulevards together with information about the future plans for the greening (tree planting) of the city.

The windows have protective screens and bars on them but no glass. In order to take photos of the views I poked the camera lens through the bars. Mrs. Gimlet’s camera is fancier than my phone so she could “erase” the bar lines. There are benches to sit on if a person is so inclined. The day we visited it was cold and not conducive to sitting and resting on a bench but on a warm summer day it would be very nice indeed. Here are a few pictures from the Tower.

A little more information about the Tower can be found at http://seattleparksfoundation.org/project_VolunteerWT.html

Observation level, Water Tower at Volunteer Park

Looking westward toward Puget Sound from the Water Tower

Seattle skyline from Water Tower

One of several displays as part of the interpretive exhibit

Looking down through the iron work grating on the windows of the Water Tower

Exterior view of the Water Tower as it looks today

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 21

Birds-eye view of Volunteer Park, early 1900s

This postcard shows Volunteer Park in Seattle as it was prior to when the new art museum was built in 1933. There was a Seattle Fine Arts Society as early as 1905. Forty-five acres of land for the park was purchased by the city in 1878 from a sawmill company for the sum of $2,000. The park was originally called City Park but was renamed in 1901 to honor those who served in the Spanish American War. As with several other parks this one uses a design by the Olmsted brothers.

Volunteer Park Conservatory

The white structure at the upper right of the postcard is the Conservatory. It is a beautiful glass greenhouse in the Victorian-style modeled after London’s Crystal Palace and was completed in 1912. There have been repairs and restorations since that time but the original design has been retained. The continued efforts of the Friends of the Conservatory have allowed visitors to wander through this large greenhouse free of charge. There are numerous plants from cacti to orchids and ferns as well as an indoor pond with fish.

Inside looking out

Outside looking in

Cacti

Cattleya Orchids

Inside the greenhouse

The SAM Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park

Close up view of decorative work on the doors to the musem.

The reddish-brown building at the right middle of the card was replaced in 1933 by the current building and is where the Seattle Art Museum’s (SAM) Asian art collection is now on display. There are pieces of public art on the steps. These are replicas of the original stone camels—the originals were moved to the downtown SAM, inside the building to help preserve and protect them from erosion.

Thing Two and Thing One on a stone camel at Volunteer Park, 2007

It is a tradition for people, especially children, to climb and sit on the camels. The original camels have a very shiny, smooth space between the humps where hundreds of visitors have sat.

Close up of one of the camels

On the grounds visitors will find the big black donut. Today the Donut is between the two Koi ponds shown on the card. The large pool at the middle left of the card is one of several reservoirs that supply water to city residents. It is one of the few remaining uncovered reservoirs in the city.

Thing One and Thing Two in the Donut, 2007

The Donut

The large body of water at the upper left of the postcard is not connected to the reservoir but is part of Puget Sound.

Looking at the card I wondered if the birds-eye view might have been taken from the water tower that is not shown on the postcard but is situated about where I think the photo was taken. So I decided to go to the park and climb up into the tower and take a picture of what it looks like today. The stairs are inside the tower and curve around the holding tank. There are three landings with about 30 stairs to each flight. The views are gorgeous from all the windows. Mrs Gimlet went with me and we both got some great pictures. It was something I had never done before and wanted to do proving to be well worth the climb up and down the approximately 100 steps. It was a beautiful sunny but cold day.

One of the Koi ponds with the Water Tower in the background

Water tower, Volunteer Park

Aerial view from water tower.

Today there are many more trees and they have grown up too tall now but this is essentially the same view as on the postcard and was taken from the observation level of the water tower. The Conservatory can be seen in the upper middle of this photo with the current museum on the right. The Koi ponds, Donut and pathway are obscured by the trees.

For more historical information about Volunteer Park see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Art_Museum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Park_Conservatory