Edith Moulton Park

In 1967 Edith Moulton donated her twenty acre farm to King County for a park. The property was originally purchased in 1897 for Edith's grandmother, Jennie Moulton, by her sons. They cleared half of the land for pasture and orchards, and built a farmhouse near what is now the parking lot. The farmhouse had no running water, electricity or central heating. Water was drawn from a well next to the house; kerosene lamps were used for light; and a wood and coal burning stove provided heat. The rest of the property was left natural; some parts of the forest have never been logged. Edith was born in 1897 in Seattle, and raised on the farm by her grandmother Jennie and aunt Jeanie Moulton. In 1917 Edith graduated from Kirkland High, and went onto the University of Washington, where she earned a degree in home economics. Edith taught home economics at Chimacum High School on the Olympic Penninsula for 25 years. After inheriting the farm Edith lived in the farm for many years. Before her death in 1967, Edith bequeathed the property to the King County Parks Department in the hope of preserving some natural land in an area rapidly being divided into homesites. It was important to her that the children in her neighborhood continue to have access to nature, and a place to play which was off the street. Plans to convert the farmhouse and furnishings into a pioneer museum were suspended when the house was lost to fire in 1968.