Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

West Seattleites had the chance to learn the story behind a popular park on Saturday morning, as the Southwest Seattle Historical Society presented a Live History Talk and Walk at Me-Kwa-Mooks Park, featuring Alan Schmitz — grandson of Ferdinand and Emma Schmitz — describing the area as he came to know it as a child.

He was joined by SWSHS president Judy Bentley (photo below) and by Joan Hockaday of the Olmsted Society, author of Greenscapes—Olmsted’s Pacific Northwest (photo above with Schmitz), about the famed designer of parks in Seattle and elsewhere.

Sharing stories and memories, Mr. Schmitz painted a picture of Me-Kwa-Mooks very different from what we see today.

The land was extensively gardened and boasted a 17-room home built by his grandfather with a sweeping view of the water. Joan Hockaday noted that during John Charles Olmsted’s stay with the Schmitz family in the early 1900’s, he wrote letters to his wife praising the gardens. “As someone who follows the Olmsted story, you have to follow the Schmitz story as well.”

Many of the trails in Me-Kwa-Mooks (which means “Prairie Point”) were originally driveways and pathways to the house and gardens. Walking the paths, you see stones that were originally retaining walls or steps. Also, the area at the base of the hill was a cement-bottomed pond with a small island in the middle that hosted overnight camp-outs for the Schmitz cousins:

The Schmitz home was torn down in the late 60s, and parcels of the land was variously donated and sold to the city through the ’70s. Today, the land has been naturally and manually planted with native trees, shrubs and plants.

In the past five years, efforts have been led by West Seattle residents Jeff Sifferman and Ken Shaw (above) to replace the conifer forests and remove invasive plants. Sifferman notes that in those five years, approximately 800 conifer trees and 300 native plants have been placed in the forested areas. Maintenance priorities focus on watering new trees and removing ivy and blackberries.

You can read more about the Schmitz family’s West Seattle history, including the parks that are the family’s legacies, at this HistoryLink.org page.