Category Archives: Neighborhood features

An Elm Tree in Seattle History

The American Elm is a species of tree native to the northeastern United States, and elms can also thrive in the temperate climate of the Pacific Northwest.  Elms can grow to seventy feet high, with a wide-spreading canopy of branches … Continue reading

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The Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel at Northgate

Thornton Creek, with two main branches north and south, flows in a southeasterly direction through north Seattle to the creek’s outlet at NE 93rd Street (Matthews Beach) on Lake Washington. The North Branch originates in Shoreline, and the South Branch … Continue reading

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Dorothy’s Thornton Creek Adventure

The Thornton Creek watershed extends eighteen miles through Shoreline and northeast Seattle, with its outlet into Lake Washington at about NE 93rd Street.  The creek has two main branches, North and South, with many tributaries. Just as it is today … Continue reading

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Meadowbrook in Early Years

Where is “Meadowbrook” in Seattle? The Meadowbrook neighborhood in northeast Seattle derived its name from a golf course which was at the present site of Nathan Hale High School. This lowlands acreage with a creek running through it had once … Continue reading

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The Swansons of Ravenna Valley

The little community of Ravenna in northeast Seattle began to expand in the early 1900s.  Population growth naturally moved in that direction as more people clustered near to the University of Washington. The growth of northeast Seattle was further stimulated … Continue reading

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Ravenna in Seattle

Where is “Ravenna” in Seattle? When asked to define a neighborhood we might think of natural boundaries such as ravines or rivers.   There are also man-made dividing lines such as streets and business districts. The Ravenna business districts are along … Continue reading

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Hunter Tree Farm in Wedgwood in 2021

The Hunter family of the Olympic Peninsula farm, dating back to the 1880s, began growing Christmas trees in 1948. In the 1950s the Hunters began selling cut trees in Seattle.  After the site in the present Northgate area closed, the … Continue reading

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Names in the Neighborhood: Rogers School

In the summer of 2023 the John Rogers School building at 4030 NE 109th Street was demolished.  Over the next two years a new building was constructed on the same site.  This blog article is a history of the school’s … Continue reading

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Names in the Neighborhood: Bryant

In northeast Seattle most of the neighborhood names are those of real estate developments such as Wedgwood, which originally was only a plat name. The builder of the Wedgwood group of houses, Albert Balch, did not deliberately set out to … Continue reading

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The Trees of October in Wedgwood

Wedgwood in northeast Seattle enjoys the autumn colors of leaves in October and November.  Street trees called Flame Ash will turn a deep red along 35th Ave NE. The Flame Ash street trees which line 35th Ave NE were planted … Continue reading

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