Seminary Hill Natural Area

Seminary Hill Natural Area is a 71.0-acre (28.7 ha) nature preserve and park in Centralia, Washington. The site is situated on Seminary Hill, a more than 500 foot (150 m)-tall landform that is also the name of a neighborhood located upon the terrain. The area was logged during the 19th century and became home to a divinity school known as Grace Seminary. The school was constructed during the late 1880s and opened in 1890. The seminary struggled financially and closed multiple times; by 1905 the building was converted into a hospital, serving as such until approximately 1920. The structure was mostly abandoned, and due to neglect, was required to be razed in the 1930s. Afterwards, the grounds became the location of a National Guard Armory; a golf course was constructed on the surrounding land. The hill has been home to the city's reservoir system since the early 20th century. Members of the International Workers of the World (IWW) used Seminary Hill as an entrenched position during the Centralia Tragedy in 1919. The area became a city park known as Seminary Hill Park, or Dry Park, in the 1930s after the Works Progress Administration began constructing a trail system throughout the forested site. By the late 1970s as the city failed to patrol the site, the park had fallen into disrepair, often used as a garage dumping ground. By 1980, local residents formed a non-profit group kno

Park data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).