When Olympia founder Edmund Sylvester platted his townsite in 1850, he set aside one downtown block for an open public square. At times it was used as a grazing meadow for community livestock, much like a traditional New England town common.

During the Puget Sound Indian War of 1855-56, settlers built a big wooden blockhouse-large enough to house the entire village population-on Sylvester's public square. When the threat of war was over, the blockhouse was pressed into service as Olympia's city jail.

The old town square was officially christened Sylvester Park and elaborately landscaped in 1893, probably to complement the new county courthouse (later the Old Capitol) that had been built across the street. New park features included beech and maple shade trees, paths strewn with crushed with clamshells, a pond full of goldfish and an elaborate Victorian bandstand.

The pond is gone and the paths have been paved, but most of Sylvester Park's towering shade trees survive. A water fountain for both people and dogs, installed in the square in 1912, has recently been restored. The park's original bandstand was vandalized during World War I, perhaps because its roofline resembled a German army helmet, and was torn down altogether in 1928. Today's more streamlined bandstand was built in 1976.

Tiny Sylvester Park remains the heart and soul of Olympia. It's the site of free concerts in summer, of holiday lights in winter and of spirited rallies and demonstrations virtually all year 'round.

Sylvester Park is located on the east side of Capitol Way, between Legion and Seventh Avenues. It is listed on the both the National and Washington State Registers of Historic Places, as well as on the Olympia Heritage Register. It is open to the public.

Sylvester Park. Olympia Heritage Commission photo.

Sylvester Park before 1904. State Capital Museum, Washington State Historical Society.