Talk:Denny Blaine Park

Student project
I article I chose was about Denny-Blaine Park in Seattle, WA. The wiki page was very minimal on any information about the park and no citation. If I have the time I would work on the page myself and help boost the wiki page. Sweettea13 (talk) 20:15, 1 November 2017 (UTC)


 * Thank you for creating this page, and getting an entry for started in Wikipedia that the rest of us can build on. Trey Tower (talk) 02:22, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Picture of pond with fountain and houses is Minerva Fountain
The current picture of a pond with a fountain and two houses is mislabeled. This is a picture of Minerva Fountain, and the pond is in what is now official named Denny Blaine Lake Park (because of the sign "Denny-Blaine-Park-Lake" that is mounted over the trolly depot next to the pond, which was the building of the original sales office for lots in the Denny-Blaine-Lake Park neighborhood).

I recommend replacing this photo with a 1903 photograph of Denny Blaine Park (from Seattle City Archives) viewed from the lake. Or alternatively a photo of a circa-1910 postcard looking down towards Denny Blaine Park (from Stixrud drive?). Trey Tower (talk) 02:33, 24 November 2023 (UTC)


 * I replaced photo of Minerva Fountain (Denny Blaine Lake Park) with photo of Denny Blaine Park from May 1903 by Olmstead Associates. Trey Tower (talk) 21:01, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

Under construction
I am in the process of updating this wiki page, following the suggested "small edit by small edit" approach. Every place I've marked for citing has original sources or materials from historians to back; and will backfill those over the next day or two. Trey Tower (talk) 10:50, 25 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Please make sure to place citations after punctuation, per WP:CITEFOOT.  Sounder Bruce  18:50, 25 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I will clean those up as part of upcoming edits to each section. Any guidance on how to avoid excess number of references? Is standard style to cite reference for every assertion, or is it OK to add references at end of paragraph that are inclusive to the various statements of fact included within the paragraph? Trey Tower (talk) 19:26, 25 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Repetition is not required for non-contentious statements in the same paragraph, generally.  Sounder Bruce  19:36, 25 November 2023 (UTC)

Play Area Controversy
Please provide guidance on any changes to improve the Play Area controversy section. This is a hot issue (and I obviously will have bias). But the goal is to write this section in a wikipedian style where the focus is to provide the factual elements that underly the issue. But also, to write concisely (which is NOT my strength). Trey Tower (talk) 05:16, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

Name of Park (as used in article)
Recommend that the general name used within the text should be Denny Blaine Park without a hyphen since that is the current spelling used by Seattle Parks and Recreation. By contrast, the official neighborhood name for where the park is located still includes the hyphen (Harrison/Denny-Blaine)

But when referring to the park specifically within the context of text taken from historical period, generally opt for the name and spelling as it would be used by the person being quoted or referenced. E.g., The original plat, Olmstead, and up through Don Sheerwood's files, references to Denny Blaine included the hyphen. Trey Tower (talk) 22:34, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The name should be consistent and unhyphenated given the current use by secondary sources. We should not be switching back and forth between names, lest we confuse readers.  Sounder Bruce  07:35, 20 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Would you suggest also removing the hyphen when used directly within quoted material? Based on my reading of other Wikipedia "style" documents, it seems such in-source "modernization" is fine since it improves readability and reduces confusion; but that is contrary to my academic training. Trey Tower (talk) 16:47, 20 December 2023 (UTC)

Propose to split play area controversy
The play area controversy section could have its own article.

That topic is more a story about LGBT+ rights in Seattle than it is a subtopic of Denny Blaine Park. Also, there is so much content about this story that it is WP:UNDUE to include it in this article when the park has its own history.

I just set up Stuart Sloan, the biography of the person who discouraged nude bathing at this park.

 Bluerasberry  (talk)  15:27, 20 July 2024 (UTC)