Inside the Community on the Hill

Queen Anne is home to impressive public works, beautiful architecture, and notable cultural institutions.

As we celebrate the thirty-second anniversary of the publication of Queen Anne: Community on the Hill, and launch digital access to our archival collections, we are exploring our neighborhood through a variety of primary sources and themes that highlight the neighborhood’s history. Themes include utilities, bridges, churches, multifamily housing, and public transportation.

Anchored by a number of Queen Anne landmarks, these primary source materials come from our collection and those of other regional institutions, including the Seattle Municipal Archives and University of Washington Special Collections.

Broad Street Substation Cable Splicers, 1951. Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #23031, Series 1204-01-1204-01-LT.
George Washington Memorial Bridge, looking north on Aurora, 1932. Donated to the Queen Anne Historical Society by Les Hamilton.
Bethany Presbyterian Church -- 1818 Queen Anne Ave N. Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #199506, Series 1629-01.
Architectural rendering of the Chelsea Hotel, Seattle, ca. 1907. Courtesy of University of Washington Special Collections.
Electric streetcars in Queen Anne district on 1st Ave. N. and Harrison St. after a snowfall, ca. 1916. Courtesy of University of Washington Special Collections.

(Electric) Power

In 1885, electric lighting came to Seattle through private utility companies. By the end of the late 1890s, Queen Anne was one of the best-lit districts at night thanks to the numerous petitions circulated by neighborhood residents between 1889 and 1894. Though electricity brought modern comforts, private utilities monopolized the market and dictated prices for both electricity and transit, leading to great dissatisfaction. In the aftermath of the Great Seattle Fire, Seattle voters approved a hydroelectric plant that would establish Seattle City Light.

Queen Anne is the home of two Seattle City Light-related landmarks: the Broad Street Substation, built in 1951, and the Seattle City Light Power Control Center, built in 1963 (now retired). Both buildings are exemplary examples of mid-century architecture. In 1962, the Pavilion of Electric Power at Seattle World's Fair highlighted the hydroelectric power that provided Seattle residents with better living for less.

City Light Power Control Center, 1968.
Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #78809, Series 1204-01 1204-01-C.

  • Energy exhibit at World's Fair, 1962.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #165742, Series 1204-01, 1204-01-P.

  • [City Light employees in Power Control Center], ca. 1970s.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #190248, Series 1204-04.

  • Space Needle from Broad Street Substation, 1962.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #78937, Series 1204-01.

  • Night shot of Power Control Center, 1968.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #78817, Series 1204-01, 1204-01-C.

A Bridge Home

Queen Anne is home to multiple distinct and landmarked bridges, including the Fremont Bridge (1917), the George Washington Memorial (Aurora) Bridge (1932), the North Queen Anne Drive Bridge (1936), and the McGraw Street Bridge (1936). 

The Fremont Bridge and Aurora Bridge connect our neighborhood to Fremont. The Fremont Bridge spans the Lake Washington Ship Canal and was the first of four bascules to cross the canal. Dueling traffic between cars and boats on the canal necessitated the construction of the high-level Aurora Bridge, which was the final link of U.S. Route 99 running from Canada to Mexico.

On the northeast side of Queen Anne Hill, a half-mile deep ravine necessitated the construction of the North Queen Anne Drive Bridge and the McGraw Street Bridge, both of which replaced an older wooden crossing. Both bridges recently received seismic retrofitting to make them more earthquake resistant.

Jim Stevenson, McGraw Street Bridge, 1981. Commissioned by Queen Anne Historical Society. See the Calendar Line Drawing Collection on Flickr.

An excerpt from Florence Scott Oral History, 1997. Audiocassette converted to digital file. Produced by Queen Anne Historical Society.

  • Aurora Avenue Bridge Construction, 1931.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #139478, Series 0207-01.

  • Nolan Olson, Aurora Bridge Looking South.

    Donated to Queen Anne Historical Society by Leanne Olson. See more of the Nolan Olson Collection on Flickr.

  • Fremont over Bridge, 1916.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #1186, Series 2613-07.

  • N. Queen Anne Drive Bridge, 1936.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #10594, Series 2613-07.

Houses of Worship

Queen Anne’s first settlers brought organized religion with them, with the neighborhood eventually becoming a major hub for houses of worship in the city. Neighborhood houses of worship were at the heart of the community across multiple generations, providing spaces and programs that provided support for our residents. 

The map below, with most data pulled from Queen Anne: A Community on the Hill, highlights the depth and diversity of houses of worship on the hill. Landmarked churches on the hill include Bethany Presbyterian Church and Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist (former). In addition, Chabad of Queen Anne-Magnolia can be found on the top of Queen Anne Hill and the Diamond Way Buddhist Center Seattle sits between Belltown and Uptown.

In recent years, as church attendance has declined, churches have been adapted for other uses by community groups. In 2022, All Saints’ Church decided to close its doors and sold its building to the contemporary dance company Whim W’Him. The company purchased the building with the intention of providing classes which continue the spirit of community.

Bethany United Presbyterian Church, 3rd Ave N and Harrison. W.A. Major, ca. 1893. Donated to Queen Anne Historical Society by Les Hamilton. See more of the Les Hamilton Collection on Flickr.

Nolan Olson, Seventh Church of Christ Scientist. Donated to Queen Anne Historical Society by Leanne Olson. See more of the Nolan Olson Collection on Flickr.

Eclectic Apartments

The development of early multi-family housing in Queen Anne included a number of eclectic styles, including those of two now-landmarked apartment buildings: Chelsea Apartments (1907) and De La Mar Apartments (1909).

Chelsea Apartments, originally known as the Chelsea Family Hotel, was designed by architect Harlan Thomas in the English-Renaissance style. The goal was to remind the guests of home in an elegant manner. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the “arrangement[s] [were] adaptable to musicals, receptions and other social functions.” The building was converted and renovated into 55 apartments in 1978.

Developed by George Kinnear for visitors to the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition, De La Mar Apartments was designed in a neoclassical style by architects Schack and Huntington. Known for its exquisite architectural details and courtyard, the building is home to 39 apartments.

Chelsea Apartments from Kinnear Park, 1981. Donated to the Queen Anne Historical Society by Paul Dorpat. See more of the Paul Dorpat Collection on Flickr.

200 Olympic Place, built 1897. 912 2nd Ave W, at right, ca. 1907. This building is in the location of the De la Mar Apartments. Donated to Queen Anne Historical Society by Les Hamilton. See more of the Les Hamilton Collection on Flickr.

Streetcar Service

Queen Anne Hill was once home to streetcars, which connected neighborhood residents to the rest of the city. Initially, the neighorhood was home to a cable car from the Front Street Cable Railway from 1889 to 1899. Seattle Electric Company purchased Front Street Cable Railway in 1900 and began work on what would become the Queen Anne Counterbalance.  

Queen Anne Counterbalance was installed in 1901 on Queen Anne Ave and operated until the shutdown of the city’s streetcar system in 1940. To counteract the hill’s steepness, tunnels were built below the track that contained miniature cars that countered the weight from the electric streetcars above them. Attendants on both ends of the hill would engage or disengage the counterbalance to adjust the weight as necessary, which led to twelve-minute runways between trains. A trolleybus later took over the route in 1940, but the tunnels remained to assist, if necessary. King County Metro’s Line 2 nearly replicates the route of the streetcar line that featured the counterbalance. 

Queen Anne Ave N at Prospect Street, ca. 1905. Donated to Queen Anne Historical Society by Les Hamilton. See more of the Les Hamilton Collection on Flickr.

New counterbalance, Queen Anne Hill looking north on Queen Anne Ave from Mercer St, ca. 1906. Donated to Queen Anne Historical Society by Les Hamilton. See more of the Les Hamilton Collection on Flickr.

  • Municipal Street Railway, Car Barn Special Room [Third Avenue W., One Block North of Nickerson.], 1914.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #218, Series 2613-07.

  • Queen Anne Counterbalance, 1934.

    Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, #8660, Series 2613-07.

  • Queen Anne Ave at W Roy Street showing Queen Anne streetcar #26, ca. 1937.

    Donated to the Queen Anne Historical Society Archives. See image on Flickr.

  • Counterbalance Looking Uphill Towards Bayview Manor.

    Donated to Queen Anne Historical Society by Paul Dorpat. See more of the Paul Dorpat Collection on Flickr.

  • Snowy Counterbalance, 1990.

    Donated to Queen Anne Historical Society by Leanne Olson. See more of the Nolan Olson Collection on Flickr.