Category Archives: streets
Seattle Street Names North of Lake Union
Seattle historian Rob Ketcherside has previously cataloged the street names which were reorganized in a major City ordinance in the year 1895. This was when the decision was made to have streets keep one name along their entire length, instead … Continue reading
The Copestick Building in Wedgwood
During World War Two from 1941 to 1945, Americans put their personal plans on hold so that they could serve in the military, work in war production industries or in support services. After the end of World War Two the … Continue reading
Searching for the Origins of Seattle Street Names
There is no resource list of the meanings of Seattle’s street names or how the street names were derived. Even the granddaughters of Seattle city founder Arthur Denny were left to speculate on his choices of the names for twelve … Continue reading
Fremont in Seattle: Street Names and Neighborhood Boundaries
Fremont in Seattle began as a planned community after investors purchased the land and filed a plat map in May 1888. A “plat” is any defined area of land for which a plan of lots and streets is laid out. … Continue reading
Seattle’s Old Street Signs
The Seattle Department of Transportation is using a new digital method to print all kinds of traffic signs, and they are making old street signs available for purchase.
Seattle Street Names
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
The Future of 35th Ave NE in Wedgwood
What is the future of 35th Ave NE? This arterial corridor through the Wedgewood neighborhood of Seattle has businesses clustered mainly at the intersections of NE 75th and 85th Streets. As buildings at these intersections age and are replaced, we … Continue reading
Wedgwood’s NE 85th Street Dividing Line
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
Gerhard Ericksen’s Good Road
In the 1880s Seattleites were fed up with being snubbed by railroad corporations. The last straw was the Northern Pacific’s selection of Seattle’s rival city, Tacoma, as the western terminus of the NP’s cross-country line. Under the leadership of Judge … Continue reading
Street-grade: ups and downs in Wedgwood
Wedgwood’s main commercial corridor is along 35th Ave NE which was first declared an arterial in 1934. Some improvements were made at that time, including some widening and some road-grading to level out the surface and make it more passable … Continue reading
