When Mount Vernon was created in 1877, it was in the middle of a vast forest and the idea of city parks would have seemed ludicrous.  But when the popular Carpenter’s Creek area was logged off and subsequently devastated, it was obvious that some land required preservation.  On January 16, 1924, citizens of Mount Vernon voted overwhelmingly (547 of 648 votes cast) that the city should purchase a park site.

That same year, the English Logging Company, owned by town co-founder Edward G. English, donated 240-acres of land on and around Little Mountain to be preserved as park land.  In addition, for over four years, Mr. Thomas K Chambers, his wife Nellie G. Chambers and the Women’s Club (of which Mrs. Chambers was president) worked toward arranging further adjacent land donations and purchases that eventually led to a 480-acre park.  Some of the money was raised by salvaging huge cedar stumps from the shores of Carpenter’s Creek and selling the resulting cedar shingles.  On March 20th, 1929, Mrs. Chambers presented the deed to the additional 240-acres to the City Council and was paid one dollar in return.  She requested that the park be named “English Park” in honor of Edward G. English who had been particularly active in promoting the park.

Courtesy Jessica Bylund and Kari Hock, authors of "Mount Vernon: Images of America", Arcadia Publishing 2013