# Wright Park

A downtown arboretum in Stadium with more than 600 trees, a playground and the two statues people call Annie and Fannie.

Canonical URL: https://tacomairl.com/places/wright-park/
Section: places
Area: Stadium
Published: 2026-10-11
Last fact check: 2026-10-11
Status: Not marked closed; check official information
Location: Stadium
Address: 501 South I St, Tacoma, WA, US
Price: Free park grounds; check separate program costs.
Official information: https://www.parkstacoma.gov/place/wright-park/
Park grounds: 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.

Wright Park rewards the kind of walk that would look terrible on a fitness app. Stop at a tree. Double back for a label. Sit down before you have earned it. This 27-acre arboretum holds more than 600 trees, which is a strong argument against treating it solely as a shortcut through town.

Use the tree-tour link on the park's official page to give the walk a purpose. Pick three trees to find rather than trying to learn the entire collection. Compare bark, leaf shape and the amount of ground a mature tree occupies. You can make a satisfying outing out of paying closer attention to very little.

## Annie and Fannie have an explanation

The two dancing maiden statues near Division Street acquired their nicknames from nearby institutions: Annie Wright Seminary and Fannie Paddock Hospital. Parks Tacoma records the connection in its history. They make useful waypoints for a walk through a park whose details otherwise risk blurring into “trees, pond, more trees.”

For a deliberate change of scale, add the [Seymour Conservatory](https://tacomairl.com/places/seymour-conservatory/). Check its closing time first; the glasshouse keeps its own schedule.

## The quiet park has a festival setting

MOSAIC's July 26–27, 2025 program brought dance, music, art and food to two stages under the trees, including community performers representing numerous cultural traditions. A visit on a festival weekend is a different proposition from a solitary tree walk. Choose accordingly.

Parks Tacoma's event advice warned that street parking was limited and recommended transit or carpooling. That remains a sensible planning approach for large gatherings, though routes and service need checking for your date.

**With children:** the park lists a playground and a seasonal sprayground. Confirm the water schedule before promising the latter. Nothing turns a landscape appreciation exercise into a labor dispute quite like an unavailable splash pad.

Image: https://tacomairl.com/images/wright-park.webp
Alt: Trees and a small bridge reflected in the pond at Wright Park.
Caption: Photographed in 2023.
Image credit: Photo: Another Believer
Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tacoma,_Washington_(May_2023)_-_082.jpg
Image rights: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

## Sources

- [Parks Tacoma: arboretum, park history and amenities](https://www.parkstacoma.gov/place/wright-park/)
- [MOSAIC festival, July 26–27, 2025](https://www.parkstacoma.gov/mosaic-2025/)