“Ross” was a place name in the present-day north Queen Anne/Seattle Pacific University area south of the ship canal, and in western Fremont north of the ship canal.

Ross Park at 4301 3rd Ave NW

John & Mary Jane Ross came to Seattle in the 1850s and filed land claims on both sides of Ross Creek.  The first building to be named Ross was an elementary school for the Ross family and neighbors, at 4301 3rd Ave NW, present site of Ross Park.  The school opened in 1883 and was rebuilt in 1903.  It closed and was demolished in 1940-1941.

“Ross” was a place name which faded as surrounding communities became more dominant, such as the commercial center of Fremont, and the coming of Seattle Pacific University at north Queen Anne on former Ross land.

Early Seattleites envisioned expansion of Ross Creek

By the 1880s it had been thirty years since early Seattle settlers first envisioned a canal which would link Lake Union to the Pacific Ocean.  A ship canal which was wide enough and deep enough, would make it possible for ships to tow logs and other cargo, such as coal, to the port on Seattle’s downtown waterfront.  But heavy excavation equipment had not yet been invented, and so in the 1880s attempts were made to widen Ross Creek just by hand-digging.

John Ross  1827-1886

John Ross owned land on both sides of Ross Creek around today’s 3rd Avenue West, and he did not want canal-digging crews to come and work in the area.  In 1884 he went to court to stop the work, but the court ruled that the canal was “for the public good” and would probably enhance the value of the Ross property.  But John Ross would not give up, and charges were brought against him when he took up a rifle, threatened the canal work crews and drove them away.

By 1885 John’s behavior was becoming more erratic and violent. We suspect he had some ailments which contributed to the changes in his behavior.  His wife Mary Jane became fearful for the safety of herself and the children, so she filed a restraining order, followed by a divorce action.  In the division of property for the divorce, John was given the land on the south side of Ross Creek, and Mary Jane kept the land on the north side where she was then living near today’s 6th Ave NW and NW 41st Street.

John Ross also kept the house he owned in today’s downtown Seattle where he spent the last few months of his life, living with his second-born son Elmer, and Elmer’s young wife Mary Weedin Ross.  She was the daughter of Robert Weedin of Green Lake.

Along with the divorce decree which was final on February 6, 1886, John’s attorneys helped him write a will, and he died on May 4, 1886.  In his will, John Ross left his property to his son Elmer, and nothing to his other seven children.  Barely a month later, on June 1, 1886, Elmer Ross’s wife Mary died at age 21.

Elmer Ross  1861-1926

With all that he’d been through in 1886, it is not surprising that Elmer Ross soon decided to make changes and start over somewhere else.  At that time, the land he owned in Seattle was becoming increasingly valuable.  In addition to the work to create a better channel through Ross Creek, a consortium of men, led by Thomas Burke & Daniel Gilman, were organizing a railroad company.  The anticipation of this project caused land values to increase as investors hoped the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway would attract businesses and residents.

Elmer Ross was able to sell his land at north Queen Anne/south side of Ross Creek, to some investors from San Francisco, Alfred & Elmyra Nickerson.  The Nickersons filed a plat map in May 1888 called Ross Second Addition.

To file a plat means to register a section of land with a name, marked out with lots and streets.  Filing a plat usually indicates that the owner wants to sell lots for houses or commercial buildings.  It is very common for land investors to name their plat in honor of the previous owner or place name.  The Nickersons also named a street in their plat, Ross, today’s 3rd Ave West.

Ross Second Addition plat filed in May 1888. It is on the south side of Ross Creek (today’s ship canal)

Very shortly after the plat filing, Ross got a post office located at about Ewing Street and 3rd Ave West where the railroad was coming through.

 The First and Second Ross Additions

Mary Jane McMillin Ross 1843-1916

In the previous year, Mary Jane Ross had sold some of her land on the north side of Ross Creek, and in January 1888 it was platted as the Ross Addition; that is the reason why the Nickersons had to name theirs “Second Addition” when they filed their plat in May 1888, for the land on the south side of the creek which they’d purchased from Elmer Ross.

The widowed Mary Jane Ross was still raising her younger children as of 1888, and she needed income to support them.  In a memoir written by the Ross’s daughter Ida, she told of the visit of Daniel Gilman to their home.  Gilman asked permission to put the new railroad line across Mary Jane’s property and explained that it would be advantageous, as her land value would increase.

The designation of Ross as a place name remained strong into the 1890s, as can be seen from City Directory listings.  People would list themselves as in residence in Ross or Ross Second Addition, so that mail would come to the Ross Post Office.

Listing in the 1892 Seattle City Directory shows George Bregg living in the Ross 2nd Addition.

The Ross name begins to fade 

Ross house photo courtesy of Seattle Public Library historic photos collection.

The Ross Addition of January 1888 (Mary Jane Ross’s land) had been platted by investors H.T. & Elsie Scott.  It extended from Ewing (North 34th Street on the north side of Ross Creek) to North 42nd Street.

Within the Ross Addition, Mary Jane Ross had held back a section of about four blocks which was her homesite nearest to 6th Ave NW and North 42nd Street.

In a final division of Mary Jane’s land in 1903, she filed a plat called Ross Home Addition, which was the section of land along North 42nd Street which she had previously held out of the 1888 Ross Addition.  This final plat, Ross Home Addition, was filed in 1903 with the assistance of her daughter Ida and Ida’s husband James Sparkman, a realtor.  Then Mary Jane moved to a house next to that of the Sparkmans on Queen Anne Hill.

Ross Addition plat filed in January 1888.  At the top, Mary Jane Ross had held out a section where she continued to live until 1903.  It was at North 42nd Street nearest to 6th Ave NW.

With the opening of the much larger ship canal in 1917, the Ross identity really began to fade, as it had been on both sides of Ross Creek.  The wide ship canal re-defined community identity so that north Queen Anne was on the south side of the ship canal, and Fremont was on the north side.

The Ross Post Office had closed in 1901 and although there was still a Ross School at 4301 3rd Ave NW, there were few other “Ross” references.  Ross never had a commercial center or very many businesses using the name.  The Ross School closed in 1940 and was demolished, with the present park & playground taking its place.

Ross Park and Playground at 4301 3rd Ave NW, former site of Ross School

Sources:

The Fremont neighborhood in Seattle is located at the northwest corner of Lake Union. Map courtesy of HistoryLink.

For more information about the Ross family, go to the John Ross article on this blog.

The story of the Ross and Fremont post offices is in this blog article.

An easy-to-use resource is Find A Grave, where Ross family descendants have posted more photos and stories.  After selling his land in Seattle, Elmer Ross moved to Bothell and became one of the pioneers of that community.  You can find his story on Find A Grave by putting in his name and dates of birth & death (1861-1926) or simply use Memorial ID #5326715.

Street names:  beginning in 1895 the City of Seattle began to reorganize its system of street names, which resulted in many of the original names being removed.  Here is info about the street names in Fremont.  There is no longer a Ross Street in Seattle, but there is a Ross Road in Bothell which likely was named for Elmer Ross, who spent the rest of his life in Bothell.