Guy Carleton Phinney (1851–1893) was a real estate developer in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Career

Phinney made a fortune in Canadian real estate in the later half of the 19th century. In 1881, he relocated from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

to Seattle. Phinney was successful in the real estate, lumber, and insurance industries. He purchased land north of the city next to Green Lake and built an English-style manor. The tracts were considered suburban at the time. To attract people to the area, the estate included a

menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoo or zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, referring to ...

and what would become Woodland Park. A private street car serviced the park from nearby Fremont.

Legacy

Upon Phinney's death, the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

purchased the park over the veto of Seattle's Mayor, W. D. Wood. The park was further developed and the menagerie became the Woodland Park Zoo. Phinney is the namesake of Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood. In the

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

neighborhood, Carleton Park was named for him by his son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phinney, Guy Carleton 1851 births 1893 deaths Businesspeople from Seattle Canadian emigrants to the United States American businesspeople in real estate