Elliot Park and the avenue were named for early pioneer, Dr. Jacob S. Elliot, who donated his original farmland to the Park Board in 1883. In his honor, the plot bears the name of Elliot Park at Tenth Avenue South and Tenth Street.
In 1884, the park board asked noted landscape architect and father of the Grand Rounds design scheme, Horace Cleveland, to create plans for the new park.
Per David C. Smith, author of the history of Minneapolis parks, City of Parks, three acres were added to the park in 1908-09 and with the addition of the new land, park superintendent Theodore Wirth presented two plans for the park in 1909. In both plans the one-time pond was shown as a wading pool. Another plan would have developed the eastern part of the park as a playground and the other plan called for a sunken flower garden.
Wirth’s playground option was selected for implementation in 1912, but after less than a year of operation, the nearby hospitals complained about the noise of children playing, and the playground equipment was removed in 1913.
Although Wirth’s sunken garden was never created, even after the removal of the playground equipment, Elliot Park was planted with more flowers each year than most other parks.
Doctor Elliots' son, Wyman Elliot, (1839-1913), served as a park commissioner from 1899-1901 and was a noted horticulturist who invented new varieties of apples, among them the Pride of Minneapolis in 1855.
Wyman Elliot was a businessman and horticulturist serving as a seed and plants supplier and was a charter member of the Minnesota Horticultural Society.
Wyman Elliot purchased 80 acres near Franklin and Chicago Avenues in Minneapolis and started the first market garden in that city. In 1862 he built two greenhouses to supply plants and flowers. The first Minnesota Flower Show was held on July 4, 1863.
In 1907, he built a new family home above the shore of Lake Harriet at the corner of West 47th Street and Humboldt. Well known for his love of roses, Wyman was instrumental in creating the Lake Harriet Lyndale Park Rose Gardens. While doing what he loved best, Wyman Elliot died June 16, 1913, age 79, working in his rose garden.
