Rockwood neighborhood celebrates 100 years

The Rockwood Neighborhood Council is celebrating the historic legacy of the area on Tuesday with a celebration recognizing the 100 years since the Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Mass., designed a large portion of the neighborhood.

Tree-lined boulevards, open spaces, curving streets and fine homes make the Rockwood National Historic District one of the most enduring and beautiful residential areas in the city. It is at the heart of the larger Rockwood Neighborhood.

The historic district design comes from the nationally renowned Olmsted Brothers, who in 1908 provided drawings to Rockwood developer Jay P. Graves while working with the city of Spokane on a landmark park plan that set the stage for the city’s collection of parks and conservation lands.

Fun is in store from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the southernmost of three Olmsted Triangle Parks along Garfield Road at 28th Avenue. There will be hot dogs, music, a bouncing gym for kids and beverages. Residents are encouraged to bring a potluck dish and lawn furniture. Cups, plates, napkins and eating utensils will be provided.

Mayor Mary Verner and Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick will attend. The event will coincide with the annual National Night Out Against Crime.

Also, a light bulb exchange will be available in which residents can receive a free compact fluorescent bulb in exchange for an incandescent one as part of public education effort on saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Gail Prosser, a board member with the neighborhood council, said the event is partly intended to get neighbors to know one another and to bring new volunteers to the neighborhood organization.

“Our priority would be to build community within Rockwood,” she said.

The Olmsteds are regarded today as visionaries for parks and natural open spaces across the country, and developers such as Graves sought them out to take advantage of their expertise in building neighborhoods. Aubrey White, who worked for Graves, was instrumental in bringing the Olmsteds to Spokane in 1906 and getting the newly formed Park Board to hire the Olmsteds to design a comprehensive park plan, which was completed in 1908 and made public in 1913.

“The Olmsteds did such a beautiful job of absorbing the grade and preserving that great topography,” said historic preservation consultant Sally Reynolds, who compiled the nomination material for the Rockwood National Historic District, which was designated in 1997.

Reynolds recently received a president’s award for community service from the Washington chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for her work in advancing the Olmsted legacy in Spokane.

Frederick Law Olmsted is considered the original and most famous landscape architect in American history, having designed New York’s Central Park and the U.S. Capitol grounds. He was a leader in the historic City Beautiful Movement embraced in Spokane. His son and stepson, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and John Charles Olmsted, continued the legacy and brought their expertise to the Northwest, including Spokane, Portland, Seattle and Walla Walla. The Olmsted Bros. firm was based in Brookline, Mass.

The Cannon Hill Neighborhood recently commemorated the legacy of Cannon Hill Park as an Olmsted design. Last fall, members of the National Association of Olmsted Parks met in Spokane also to acknowledge the Olmsted stamp on the Lilac City.

Reynolds said the Olmsted influence cannot be underestimated. She said it appears that their vision for attractive communities was being embraced in Spokane years earlier with the development of Manito Park additions in which Graves used the topography and landscape to carve out wide boulevards and public spaces.