Delridge Playfield is located in the Delridge neighborhood at 4555 Delridge Way SW, 98106.
Originally called “Youngstown Park” in the Olmsted Brothers’ 1910 report, the topography of this site appeared promising for a playfield and park. John Charles described the general location: “There is a valley in the northwest part and the surface rises southward from it to a plateau several feet above 6th Avenue. Toward the east the surface rises rapidly to the steep slope of a high hill. The land is fairly well covered with the remains of the logged off woods.” Olmsted observed that it seemed “unlikely that this section of the city can be provided with any other park for some years,” so he recommended park acquisition at this site be treated “liberally.” He proposed certain improvements for a park, including a “little shallow lake” that would also “serve as a wading pool,” and earthwork for a “ballfield and tennis courts, leaving such of the trees as are any good along the borders to shade a winding walk.”
The property was acquired in 1912, and the lower, north end of the playfield received substantial fill over the next couple of decades, including from a school excavation in 1915 and from regrading the golf course in 1935. The playfield was eventually renamed Delridge to reflect the community’s newer name.