| Henderson Park | |
| Map: | Washington |
| Type: | Picnic, community assembly |
| Location: | 1321 S. Market Boulevard, Chehalis, Washington |
| Coordinates: | 46.6533°N -122.9531°W |
| Area: | 1acres |
| Established: | 1962 |
| Status: | Open |
| Hiking Trails: | 0 |
| Paths: | Sidewalks |
| Terrain: | Flat |
| Water: | None |
| Plants: | Roses |
| Publictransit: | Lewis County Transit |
| Facilities: | Chehalis government buildings |
Henderson Park is located in Chehalis, Washington in the city's South Market district and is a block northeast of nearby Recreation Park.
The 1acres park hosts several buildings used by various city government divisions, most notably the Chehalis Parks and Recreation Department, and as a command center during emergencies in the city.[1]
The plat for Henderson Park, described as having a "pretty clump of trees", was originally offered to the city in 1906.[2] The land was officially donated to Chehalis by the Henderson Lumber Company in 1908 but forgotten by the city until 1913, though the area was treated as a park by local residents.[3] [4] The park was not formally recognized by the city until 1916.[5] Full ownership was given to Chehalis, by deed, in 1962.[6]
During its early history, the grounds had been used as an automobile stop, a market place, picnic area, and a playground. At the end of 1916, the city commissioners, led by the actions of a local auto club, began to convert the land into a park for automobile travelers.[7] The grounds were slightly expanded in 1923 when the city authorized the purchase of nearby residential lots to add to the park.[8] Improvements, actual and planned, were begun in the mid-1920s and into the 1930s, first with a concrete concession stand in 1924[9] and the planting of Hawthorne trees the following year.[10] A log lodge, with an original footprint of 28feetx72feetft (xft), was introduced as a possible rest area for travelers in 1933. The lodge was planned to be modern for the times and was to contain a dance floor and host a large front porch. The combination rest area and recreation building was never constructed.[11] [12]
Henderson Park, along with other recreation spots in the city, received a small Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant for improvements and the addition of playground equipment in 1937.[13] [14] In early 1938, the Henderson Park Garden Club was first organized.[15] By the 1940s, the space began to be primarily utilized for the State Department of Natural Resources and then later by the Chehalis fire department and the Jaycees.[16] [17]
A crab apple tree known as the Saunders Tree was replanted at Henderson Park in early 1968. The tree, originally located on Market and 4th Street, grew from a graft completed in 1870 by an unnamed Native American boy and Joseph Saunders, youngest son of the city's founding family. Due to a widening project on Market Street, a move of the tree was necessitated. The tree thrived at first but there was a lack of fruit and leaf growth as the summer season passed.[18] The pioneer tree, most likely part of the Saunder's family orchard on the Hillside Historic District, was reported to have died a year or two later. Cuttings were taken and planted at the Chehalis park system's office.[19]
Rose bushes were dispersed through the site during a transfer of plantings from the closure of the Chehalis Municipal Rose Garden but the roses did not flourish.[1] Beginning in 2009 as an offshoot of the city's Christmas decorations, the park's pump house is dressed by volunteers as a gingerbread house during the winter holiday season.[20]