As Seattle’s wooded hills were logged, realtors developed the newly cleared lands. To attract prospective buyers to the new house lots, developers built a cable car line from Pioneer Square to the shores of Lake Washington, at what is now Leschi, and opened an amusement park there in 1888.
Seattle entertainment manager John Cort opened his Lake Washington Casino (later called the Leschi Park Casino) in 1890. It operated until 1904, and featured theater and vaudeville. This image shows the Lake Washington Casino in its early days, with newly-planted garden beds and trees along the walkways.
Handwritten on negative: Leschi Park No. 144
Caption information source: "Cort, John (1861-1929)," by Eric L. Flom, HistoryLink.org Essay 3296 Caption information source: http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/18438 Caption information source: Don Sherwood Parks History Collection: Leschi Park
ID Number: 1980.6923.61
Date: Circa 1890
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 7.25 x 5.75 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
Credit: MOHAI, Benjamin Pettit Photograph Collection, 1980.6923.61
