Posts Tagged ‘history’
Seattle’s Floating Stadium
People know Seattle for the Space Needle. That, and all the water. Puget Sound, Lake Union, Lake Washington. Rain. Combine the two—water and iconic architecture—and you’re getting close to the 1960s idea for a floating stadium. No Kingdome or CenturyLink or Safeco Field—this floating stadium would have had Seahawks and Mariners much closer to the…
Read MoreThe Bogue Plan – A Better Seattle
Seattle voters authorized a Municipal Plans Commission on March 8, 1910. The city was growing, and they needed a game plan for long-term development. The commission selected Virgil G. Bogue to plan and beautify Seattle’s future. “Virgil G. Bogue, who is not unknown locally, will draw the substantial salary of $1,500 a month, and be…
Read MoreThe Forgotten Space Needle: PHOTO ESSAY
We’ve all memorized the Space Needle, and to be honest, it doesn’t really excite me that much anymore (I’m more a fan of Mt. Rainier and views of the Puget Sound). But George Gulacsik’s recently-released photos of the Needle’s construction made me fall in love all over again. He took 2,436 photos of the year-long construction, hired by…
Read MoreBattle of the Big Tunnels
Bertha isn’t Seattle’s first major tunnel project. Almost 100 tunnels totaling 40 miles lie beneath our city, including the record-setting Great Northern Tunnel, built in the beginning of the 20th century. Let’s see how that mile-long train tunnel compares to Big Bertha’s tunnel. Great Northern Tunnel The Great Northern Tunnel runs for one mile…
Read MoreSeattle Underground
The Seattle Underground. Home of prostitutes, speakeasies, opium dens, and rats. Infamous. Abandoned. And yet—the story of the Underground is the story of progress. Seattle 1.0 The Seattle that existed from the early Denny pioneers to the loggers and dockworkers of the 1880s was a place of flooded streets and tidewater toilets. People drowned…
Read MoreLuna Park
You can still see them, once every decade. An army of pilings sunk in the tide flats off West Seattle. They stay submerged under all but the lowest tides, hearkening thoughts of Easter Island. Relics of an earlier, forgotten age. Luna Park once claimed those pilings. Some called it “The Greatest Amusement Park in the West”;…
Read MoreWhat’s In a Name? Maple Leaf
Settlers first moved to the Maple Leaf Neighborhood in the 1890s, back when the land was a developer’s hope and a homeowner’s gamble. Green Lake was the dominant northern neighborhood back then, and the Maple Leaf region was nothing but a rural addition. It needed a name. Eventually, one caught on. Wait, wait… Don’t tell me! Here…
Read MoreThe Guy Who Single-Handedly Made Phinney Ridge
Before Guy Carleton Phinney (1851-1893) came to Seattle, the land west of Green Lake was wilderness. You might have found a few homesteaders there, but the rest was dense forest and wild animals. Hinterlands. In 1879, the entire 4 square miles around Green Lake could claim only a few hundred residents. Now, the neighborhood of…
Read MoreEdith Macefield: Legend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1NLzBGJavc Remember that scene from the Disney/Pixar movie Up? The beloved old man, pressured by developers to sell his home and move? He thwarts their plans with a few thousand helium balloons, and the story turns out happy. Edith Macefield inspired that story. Edith Macefield of our very own Ballard, Washington. She had lived in…
Read MoreGals in the Neighborhood: Quiet Reforms
The Good Shepherd Center doesn’t appear on the five o’clock news, and it’s not a tourist destination. If you tell your friends about it, only a few will know the name. The Good Shepherd Center is quiet. It’s quiet in the same way Ella Baker was quiet, and Harry Hay was quiet, and David Brower…
Read MoreGals in the Neighborhood: Everyone Wants Discovery
Everyone wants into Discovery Park. It’s the largest green space in Seattle, with more than 500 acres(!) and 2 miles of beautiful beaches. It hides out in Magnolia, a neighborhood that already hides from the rest of Seattle, but the drive is worth it. The park’s guest list is proof. That list includes: Military (Fort…
Read MoreGals in the Neighborhood: SLUT
Real Seattleites ride the SLUT. Or at least real Seattleites who work for Amazon and live near Westlake ride the SLUT. All 2.6 miles of her. SLUT, according to local knowledge, internationally famous T-shirts, and major news sources (including Ellen!), stands for South Lake Union Trolley. Poorly named? Maybe, but it’s the best advertising you…
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