The origins of Wright Park date to 1886, when the Tacoma Land Company—the real estate agency of the Northern Pacific Railway—donated 27 acres of land to the newly incorporated and booming young railroad town of Tacoma on the condition that it become a city park. A hilly, logged, and brambly parcel of land, the acreage was nonetheless enthusiastically received by citizens of Tacoma. Named in honor of Charles Barstow Wright, the president of the Tacoma Land Company, Wright Park and its surrounding streets and avenues soon became the early address of distinction for Tacoma's grand residences as well as many educational, religious, and medical institutions. Now, more than a century later, Tacoma's landmark Wright Park is the recipient of renewed citizen investment and appreciation, as this photographic retrospective demonstrates.
Authors Melissa McGinnis and Doreen Beard-Simpkins have researched the history of Tacoma's parks for more than 20 years. McGinnis works as the historic and cultural resource manager for Metro Parks Tacoma, and Beard-Simpkins served two decades as the agency's parks historian, most recently for the 2005 centennial celebration of Point Defiance Park. They previously collaborated on Tacoma's Parks, published in 2007 in Arcadia's Images of America series.