The neighborhood is built on a hill, now named Queen Anne Hill, which became a popular spot for the city's early economic and cultural elite to build their mansions. Its name is derived from the Queen Anne architectural style in which many of the early homes were built.
Geography and history
Location and borders
Queen Anne is bounded on the north by the Fremont Cut of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, beyond which is Fremont; on the west by 15th and Elliott Avenues West, beyond which is Interbay, Magnolia, and Elliott Bay; on the east by Lake Union and Aurora Avenue North, beyond which is Westlake. As a neighborhood toponym, Queen Anne may include Lower Queen Anne, also known as Uptown, the area at the southern base of the hill, just north and west of Seattle Center. Whether or not Lower Queen Anne is considered a separate neighborhood matters in setting Queen Anne's southern boundary, which is either West Mercer Street or Denny Way.[2]
Queen Anne can be reached from Interstate 5 via the Mercer Street Exit (Exit 167). The neighborhood's main thoroughfares are Gilman Drive West, 3rd Avenue West, Queen Anne Avenue North, Boston Street, and a set of streets, collectively known as Queen Anne Boulevard, that loop around the crown of the hill and reflect a comprehensive boulevard design in the style of the Olmsted Brothers architectural firm. The design was never fully executed, but it remains part of the Seattle Parks System.[3]
While Queen Anne stands out in Seattle geography due to its proximity to downtown and three television broadcast towers, the highest point in the city, 520 feet (160 m) above sea level, is in West Seattle. Queen Anne slopes are home to seven of the twenty steepest streets in the city[4] and 120 pedestrian staircases.[5]
Demographics
Including the sub-neighborhoods of North Queen Anne, West Queen Anne, East Queen Anne and Lower Queen Anne (or Uptown), Queen Anne has approximately 19,000 households and a total population of about 36,000.[6] Queen Anne is disproportionately populated by unmarried, white, young adults. The population is more racially homogeneous than Seattle as a whole.
Note: Education statistics are for population 25 years and older. Marital statistics are for population 15 years and older. All data are from 2010 census or American Community Survey.
Significant events
The Vashon Glacier carved Queen Anne Hill's topography more than 13,000 years ago, and human habitation in the area began some 3000 years ago. When white settlers arrived in the mid-19th century, the Duwamish tribe maintained a seasonal presence in and around Queen Anne.[11]
White settlement of Queen Anne stemmed from the arrival of the Denny Party at West Seattle's Alki Point in November 1851. In 1853, David Denny staked a claim to 320 acres (130 ha) of land the Duwamish called baba'kwoh, prairies, known today as Lower Queen Anne, and bounded by Elliott Bay to the west, Lake Union to the east, Mercer Street to the north, and Denny Way to the south. Denny called the area "Potlach Meadows". Development of the hill, called at various times North Seattle, Galer Hill, and Eden Hill, was slow. Then an 1875 windstorm flattened thousands of trees on Queen Anne, making the previously dense forest more appealing for settlement. The hill began to be called "Queen Anne" by 1885, after the Queen Anne style houses that dominated the area.[12] The arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway (1883) and the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway (1887), the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, and the opening of three cable car lines to the top of the hill starting in 1890, including the Queen Anne Counterbalance, further encouraged residential and business development.[citation needed]
The 1917 opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, and the Fremont and Ballard Bridges over it, made the area more appealing for maritime and timber industries, and connected Queen Anne with communities to the north. On the south side of the hill, the 1927 completion of a Civic Center (with auditorium, ice arena and football field) on David Denny's Potlach Meadows land brought residents from all over the city to Queen Anne for concerts and sporting events.[citation needed]
The first television broadcast in the Pacific Northwest originated from the hill in November 1948, when KRSC-TV (now KING-TV) signed-on from its transmitting tower at Third Avenue North and Galer Street. KOMO-TV installed its own tower nearby, on Galer Street and Orange Place North, and began operations from there in December 1953, and KIRO-TV went on the air in February 1958 from a tower adjacent to its original studios on Queen Anne Avenue.[citation needed]
As late as 1964, the area had a large enough population of families with children to motivate opening McClure Middle School, but by 1981 a decline in such families led the school system to close Queen Anne High School, North Queen Anne Elementary School, and West Queen Anne Elementary School.[14]
An 800 m (0.50 mi) stretch of Queen Anne Avenue North between West McGraw and West Galer Streets serves as the spine of the central business district. The Greater Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce is an association of neighborhood business leaders.[20] Queen Anne hosts a weekly farmers' market between June and October.[21]
The Seattle Parks and Recreation department maintains 24 parks on Queen Anne. Kerry Park, located on Highland Drive, covers a mere 1.26 acres (0.51 ha), but boasts one of the most attractive views of the city, with downtown at the center of focus along with the Space Needle, and on clear days, Mount Rainier in the background. From this point there are also views of Elliott Bay and West Seattle.[28]Kinnear Park, with 14.1 acres (5.7 ha) of woodland and grass, is Queen Anne's largest park, offering views of the grain elevator at Pier 86.[29] Rachel's Park, formerly Soundview Terrace, is a play area on the west slope of the hill named after Rachel Pearson, a 6-year-old girl who died on Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in 2000.[30] Queen Anne Bowl, adjacent to the 9.2 David Rodgers Park on the north slope of Queen Anne, has a dirt running track and synthetic surface soccer pitch.[31]Bhy Kracke Park in East Queen Anne, features "one of the best views in the city," a playground, picnic shelter, several small grassy areas, and a paved walking path connecting the different levels of the park.[32] West Queen Anne Playfield includes a community center, indoor swimming pool, and baseball and softball fields.[33]
^Lentz, Florence K. and Mimi Sheridan, Queen Anne Historic Context StatementArchived June 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Prepared for the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Historic Preservation Program and the Queen Anne Historical Society, October 2005.
^Reinartz, Kay (1993). Queen Anne: Community on the Hill. Queen Anne Historical Society. ISBN978-0-9638991-0-1.