Elliot Park

Amid the lively Downtown Minneapolis atmosphere is a beautiful urban oasis known as Elliot Park. Located between Hennepin County Medical Center and North Central University, Elliot Park has become a mecca for everyone from college students to business professionals looking for a bit of leisurely bliss.

You’ll find visitors enjoying their lunch break with co-workers at one of the many picnic tables, while others come to people-watch, read or relax on the grassy knolls.

Feel free to sign-up for a number of recreational activities offered through the recreation center. Activities include flag football, softball, tennis and basketball, voted City Pages “Best of” in 2000. Bring the kids for fun times in the wading pool and playground.

In 1883 Dr. Jacob Smith Elliot donated the grounds of his home as a gift to the city park system. Elliot’s original two-acre lot was enlarged to four acres by the end of that year. In 1889 electric lights were installed in the park. The following year a skating rink and warming house were established. During the early 1900’s the local residents petitioned for the park to be fenced in to eliminate noisy and undesirable nightly gatherings.

The first playground was constructed in 1912. A nearby hospital objected to this addition and as a result the apparatus was removed after just one year and the area was turned into a flower garden. It wasn’t until 1948 that another playground was built. This playground was updated in 1998, along with other improvements to the park, including the pathways, landscaping and a basketball court.