Category Archives: Neighborhood features
Along the Road: From Pontiac to Sand Point Way NE
There was not yet a road called Sand Point Way NE when the first commercial activities began at about NE 70th Street on Lake Washington. In the 1880s Edward F. Lee had a boat-building shop there, and Osborn M. Merritt … Continue reading
Names in the Neighborhood: Chelsea and Lake City
Seattle north of the ship canal has many neighborhoods which derived their names from plats of land development. Sometimes the naming was deliberate, such as Laurelhurst, in which the developers reconfigured the streets and promoted the sale of houses in … Continue reading
Names in the Neighborhood: Chelsea Becomes a School Street
Hugh Benton and Victor Palmer were young attorneys who arrived to make their fortunes in Seattle in the early 1900s. In those days attorneys would often expedite property transactions because the category of real estate agent as a profession had … Continue reading
Names in the Neighborhood: Chelsea
NE 110th Street in the Meadowbrook neighborhood of northeast Seattle is today dominated by two large school buildings: Nathan Hale High School on the south side of NE 110th Street and Jane Addams Middle School on the north side. Hidden … Continue reading
Writing the Ways of Seattle Streets
The Seattle street system provides endless opportunities for puzzling over the “whys” of street names, as it can be difficult to find out who a street is named for. One north Seattle street is clear in its tribute to Roosevelt … Continue reading
Sorting Out Seattle Street Names
In Seattle’s early years, 1851 to 1889, owners of property could lay out a plan for streets and give them any names they chose. But as the city grew, segments of a street would often have several different names as … Continue reading
Art on 34th in the Fremont Neighborhood of Seattle
The highly walkable Fremont neighborhood of Seattle has many artworks in easily observable outdoor settings. Some of the best-known artworks are the statue of Lenin located just west of Fremont Avenue, and the Fremont Troll on North 36th Street underneath … Continue reading
Autumn Season 2020 in Wedgwood
Autumn 2020 in Wedgwood in northeast Seattle is bright with colorful trees. The arterial 35th Ave NE is lined with flame ash trees from the center of the neighborhood at NE 85th Street, northward to where 35th Ave NE merges … Continue reading
The Stairways of Wedgwood
The City of Seattle’s geological formation looks as though a glacial hand pressed into the land like cookie dough. There are valleys across Seattle and north-south-running ridges as though the dough oozed up between the fingers of the hand. For … Continue reading
Along the Road: the Evolution of 35th Ave NE
From early years Wedgwood in northeast Seattle was a car-centric neighborhood because of the lack of other transportation options. Streetcar lines never reached Wedgwood, and there was no city bus service because the neighborhood was outside of the Seattle City … Continue reading
