PARK HISTORY
Hendrick’s Park History
Hendricks Park was established in 1906. Martha and Thomas Hendricks deeded 47 acres to the city of Eugene and the city then purchased an additional 31 acres to complete Eugene’s frist city park.
Mayor F.S. Wilkins gave immediate attention to the Hendricks Park by upgrading Summit Avenue to provide a roadway into the Park.
The Park’s landscape has changed over time. When the Park was was initially established, the Douglas fir forest was much smaller than it is today. Instead, the Park consisted primarily of an oak savannah in 1906.
In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a shelter in the Park. The original shelter was destroyed in a 1999 windstorm, when two Douglas firs crushed the building. Only the chimney from the 1938 structure remains. The current structure is a replica of the original shelter.
For additional pictures of the Hendricks Park’s history, see the Centennial issues of the Park Bench newsletter (Winter 2006 and Spring 2006).
Interested to Know More?
The Friends of Hendricks Park are very excited to announce the publication of “The Story of Hendricks Park”. It is a 100 page history of Eugene’s oldest park and contains many beautiful historical illustrations and color photos, stories, vignettes, Kalypuya lore and interviews.
This book is available for $15 from the Friends of Hendricks Park. Books will be available to pick up or delivered if in a close area of the park. Mailing is possible also with a charge added for the mailing costs which would come to $25.
The book is also available locally at J. Michaels Books, Tsunami Books, Down to Earth, and the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History’s gift shop.
1908 photo taken from the Park looking towards Skinner Butte.
Courtesy of Lane County Historical Museum.
The current Wilkins Shelter at Hendricks Park.