Esther Short Park
Encyclopedia
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
. Established in 1853, it is the oldest public park
Urban park
An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...
in the state of Washington. It has been called the "oldest public park in the West" by some, but was created after Lafayette Park
Lafayette Square, St. Louis
Lafayette Square is a neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri that is bounded on the north by Chouteau Avenue, on the south by Interstate 44, on the east by Truman Parkway and on the west by South Jefferson Avenue. It surrounds Lafayette Park, which is the city's oldest public park, created by...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. It is located in the city's downtown between West Columbia and 8th Street. It was bequeathed to the city in 1862, and includes a children's playground
Playground
A playground or play area is a place with a specific design for children be able to play there. It may be indoors but is typically outdoors...
, a rose garden
Rose garden
A Rose garden or Rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped by individual variety, colour or class in rose beds.-Origins of the rose...
, a large fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
system made of column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
ar basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
, a bell/clock tower, and the historic Slocum House. The park also houses the outdoor farmer's market each weekend. In the summer of 2007, the park hosted over 30 outdoor summer concerts, many free.
Esther Short
Esther Short was an early Vancouver resident, whose husband Amos and ten children "jumped a claim" near present-day downtown Vancouver. This land was originally part of a larger land plot by American Henry Williamson, who mapped out a little town called Vancouver City and properly registered the claim in the US courthouse in Oregon City. He left his caretaker, David Gardner, in-charge of the land before leaving for California. During a dispute, Amos Short shot and killed David Gardner but was later acquitted in court. Amos used his courtroom experience to become a judge and claimed the disputed land for himself. He died during a return voyage from selling local produce in San Francisco. With Williamson's registered claim intact, Esther Short filed papers to claim the land. Ultimately, she obtained part of the land (including the parcel which includes present-day Esther Short Park), along with the Catholic Church and Vancouver City. She also gave permission to use house ferryFerry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
boats to land on her property, at the foot of present-day Washington Street, where she operated a restaurant and hotel called The Alta House.
The park was part of this land, bequeathed as a public plaza by Esther after Amos died in a shipwreck at the mouth of the Columbia. Some of her other land is presently the Port of Vancouver. Esther Short Park's statue "The Pioneer Mother" was dedicated July 22, 1929 and was sculpted by Avard Fairbanks
Avard Fairbanks
Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was a prolific 20th century American sculptor. Three of his sculptures are in the United States Capitol, and the state capitols in both Utah and Wyoming, as well as numerous other locations, also have his works...
.
Contemporary development
Before the last decade or so, the city of Vancouver's core downtown was in serious economic decline, and the park was mainly home to transientsHomelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
. A 1996 Columbian
The Columbian
The Columbian is a daily newspaper for Vancouver, Washington and Clark County in Washington State in the United States. The paper was published for its first decade as a four page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republican newspaper The Independent. Printer Tom Carolan began...
article named the park as the nucleus of the majority of emergency 911 calls in the city. As part of the push for revitalization by mayor Royce Pollard
Royce Pollard
Royce Pollard was the six-term mayor of Vancouver, Washington, the fourth largest city in Washington state. After a career as a U.S. Army officer ending in the late 1980s, he served a seven-year stint on the City Council...
and others, the park received $5.67 million in direct aid, and investment of $220 million of capital funded a slew of development in and surrounding the park. This movement to revamp the park is widely believed to have been jump started by a 1997 incident involving Pollard at a series of social events he designed to make the park a family-friendly gathering place. According to reports, a transient individual pushed Pollard in the back with a shopping cart, and made threatening comments warning him to leave. The man was arrested, and henceforth public interest and support in reclaiming the park surged. In the summer of 2007, the property received the "Development of Excellence" award from the Urban Land Institute
Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a non-profit research and education organization with offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London...
of Oregon and Southwest Washington.
