Elizabeth Park, Bellingham, WA., ca.1907. Elizabeth Park was Whatcom County's first official park. Originally named Walnut Street Park, it was re-named Elizabeth Park in 1912 in honor of Henry Roeder's wife, Mary Elizabeth, who was the fourth white woman to settle on Bellingham Bay. In 1884 Captain Roeder donated a portion of his land claim for the park for recreation and to use as a gathering place. In 1901 the Ladies Cooperative Society began fundraising to landscape the park and to erect a bandstand. Park development was completed in 1905. A fountain was donated in 1910 by the G. Morris Estate of Seattle and placed in the center of the lake. After years of neglect the park underwent a facelift in the 1980s with fundraising assistance from the Eldridge Historical Society. The bandstand was rebuilt and the former water features were filled in and landscaped. The park is one of Bellingham's jewels today and still serves as a vibrant community gathering place.
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