The Wedgwood neighborhood in Seattle was created by a bold and optimistic developer, Albert Balch. On July 31, 1941 Balch filed a plat for forty acres of land from 30th to 35th Avenues NE, NE 80th to 85th Streets, which became the first section of Wedgwood houses that he built.
The Seattle City Clerk’s on-line map of the Wedgwood neighborhood spells it with the extra “e.”
Balch did not deliberately set out to name the whole neighborhood “Wedgwood.” As Balch added more houses in other nearby sections of land, local businesses began calling themselves by the name Wedgwood.
By the mid-to-late 1940s Wedgwood began to be recognized as the name of the neighborhood, with the community club naming itself Wedgwood. The name choice was solidified on April 16, 1954, with the official naming of the Wedgwood Elementary School, even though the school building was still under construction.
Shown here is the Seattle City Clerk’s neighborhood map with the current “boundaries” of Wedgwood, meant to give people a sense of place and concern for community.
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Wedgwood in Seattle History 