Category Archives: Land records and surveys

Finding House Histories in Wedgwood

Posted on September 1, 2017 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Do you know the history of your house?   Information about your house, including its age and its setting in the Wedgwood neighborhood of northeast Seattle, can tell you about the house itself and about the people who have lived on … Continue reading →

Posted in Houses, Land records and surveys, research resources | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Original Resources, Real History

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Have you heard of Frederich Drumpf, a German immigrant who operated a restaurant in Seattle in the 1890s? Real historians use original documents and verify their sources, and in this essay by Seattle historian Rob Ketcherside, we see that getting … Continue reading →

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Classic Maps of Washington State

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Did you know that the Washington State Office of the Secretary of State has a blog page????   Well, it seems like just about everyone has a blog now!

Posted in Land records and surveys, research resources | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Charles Baker, Land Investor in Fremont and Wedgwood Neighborhoods in Seattle

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

The Fremont neighborhood has a lively history which parallels the story of the City of Seattle’s growth and development.  Just as in the beginnings of Seattle in what is now downtown, the earliest white settlers of Fremont were attracted by … Continue reading →

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Seattle’s Pioneers of Fremont: John Ross

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Fremont, a neighborhood in north Seattle, was named by property investors from Fremont, Nebraska.  Prior to the development’s receiving its official name in 1888, there were other nearby neighborhood reference points, such as the community of Ross.  Today the former … Continue reading →

Posted in Fremont neighborhood in Seattle, Land records and surveys | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Kittredge Family: a Bridge to Northeast Seattle

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

We may define “pioneers” as young people, perhaps single men or young couples, who journey out to unexplored lands to start new lives.  The story of Seattle’s growth includes plenty of pioneer stories but not just in Seattle’s first century … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War, Land records and surveys, Neighborhood features | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Seattle Street Names

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

The vision of a city in the place where Seattle now stands was born in the heart of Arthur Denny, a 29-year-old surveyor in Knox County, Illinois in 1851.  As a surveyor Denny knew that in unexplored regions, early-arriving settlers … Continue reading →

Posted in Land records and surveys, Plat names, research resources, Seattle History, streets | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The AYPE and the Growth of Northeast Seattle

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) was a world’s fair held in 1909 on the campus of the University of Washington in northeast Seattle. After the move of the university to its present site in 1895, the AYPE of 1909 was the … Continue reading →

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Wedgwood’s NE 85th Street Dividing Line

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

On September 2, 1858, a team of surveyors stood at what is now the center point of Seattle’s Wedgwood business district on 35th Ave NE at NE 85th Street.  The survey team of the year 1858 consisted of two chain … Continue reading →

Posted in boundaries, Land records and surveys, streets | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Marshall Blinn: Logging and Land Speculation in Washington Territory

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Before Washington became a state in 1889, territorial land claims recorded many names which are not now well-known.  Who were these early-arriving settlers? The map of what is now the Wedgwood and Meadowbrook neighborhoods of northeast Seattle is dotted with … Continue reading →

Posted in Land records and surveys, research resources, Seattle History | Tagged , , | 2 Comments