#15 on Map

Virginia Gilmore Jackson, daughter of Helen Case Gilmore and Alex Gilmore, granddaughter of Des Moines pioneers Rollin A. Case, Jr. and Marion Wilcox Case, great-granddaughter of Des Moines pioneers Rollin A. Case, Sr. and Georgina Horton Logan Case, lived across the street from the Des Moines Field House during her entire childhood. She made the quilt square depicting the Field House.

Des Moines Field House

Located on S. 220th Street at Tenth Avenue S.
“This facility, also called King County Park No. 1, was developed on land donated by the Des Moines-Zenith Improvement Club in November 1937. The structure is located on a five-acre (2.0 ha) site east of downtown Des Moines, overlooking Puget Sound to the west.
“The building is a full log-constructed, gable-roofed field house with an open front porch. The porch was partially enclosed in 1952. In addition to this structure, there is a stone-floored picnic shelter, baseball field with a frame grandstand seating 1,500, and tennis courts. A bowling green was also constructed as part of the original park.. A children’s swing set is now located on the site. The grounds of the field house are completely landscaped with stone retaining walls, steps, walkways, and drainage gutters. …
“The Des Moines field house is the first of five King County facilities built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in this style. The main floor consists of a gymnasium with a stage at the west end of the building and a beautiful stone fireplace on the north wall. The basketball court is constructed of maple. There are two sets of stairs leading down from either side of the stage to the boys’ and girls’ locker rooms. Daylight basements include a variety of meeting and activity rooms and a kitchen facility.”

—from One Hundred Years of the “Waterland” Community: A History of Des Moines, Washington