Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Plaque |
Collection |
Metro Parks Tacoma - Permanent Collection |
Date |
1951 |
Description |
Historic Lincoln Park gained Eldridge Playground in 1951, the result of a bequest from long-time Tacoma resident George Washington Eldridge. George Eldridge and his mother Celestia moved from West Stockholm, New York to Washington State in 1890 to make their home in Tacoma. His mother passed in 1911 (at the age of 69), and George Eldridge lived the remainder of his life on Fawcett Ave, near today's UW Tacoma Campus. Although listed as a "peddler" in a 1910 census, Eldridge ultimately made his living as the owner of several small apartment buildings throughout Tacoma. Upon his death in 1949 at the age of 86, his will divided his estate between a stepson, Theodore Krause, and a $15,000 bequest to the Tacoma Park District for the establishment of a children's park. He asked that the playground be named in memory of himself and his mother, Celestia Eldridge, and gave the park district "freedom of action" in selecting the site to ensure the district could maintain it in perpetuity. Metro Parks chose to use his donation to purchase additional level property adjacent to Lincoln Park. The property was graded, seeded and a softball backstop and field installed. As per the terms of the will, a plaque was added to the site the year it opened: "Eldridge Playground - this playground dedicated to the children of Tacoma in memory of the donor, George Washington Eldridge and his mother Celestia A Eldridge, 1951." |
Location |
Lincoln Park |
Object Number |
LP - 002 |
Web link |
Metro Parks Tacoma, Lincoln Park/Eldridge Playfield |