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Renaming Seattle’s Green Lake streets

This is a lookup table of Green Lake neighborhood of Seattle street names from the 1880s and 1890s together with their names today. For easy of use I include the table here, and narrative below.

Note: this content also appeared in the blog WallyHood.

The Green Lake data

Original name (1880s-1890s)Current NameAdditionNotes
Central StreetNE 53rd StWoods South Div of Green Lake
Sheridan StreetN 54th StWoods South Div of Green Lake, Wallingford's Div of Green Lake
Thomas StreetN 53nd St, NE 54th StWoods South Div of Green Lake, Wallingford's Div of Green Lakejogs north to the east
Sherman StreetN, NE 52nd StWoods South Div of Green Lake, Wallingford's Div of Green Lake
Grant StreetN, NE 51st StWoods South Div of Green Lake, Wallingford's Div of Green Lake
Chicago AveLatona Ave NEWoods South Div of Green Lake
Kirkwood AveKirkwood Pl NWoods South Div of Green Lake, Kilbourne's Div of Green LakeN 52nd to N 54th
Kensington AveKensington Pl NEWoods South Div of Green Lake, Kilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Keystone AveKeystone Pl NEWoods South Div of Green Lake, Kilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Keystone Ave1st Ave NEWoods South Div of Green LakeeSouth of N 52nd St
Canton Ave5th Ave NEWoods South Div of Green Lake
Caton AveMeridian Ave NWoods South Div of Green Lake
Yacht Ave(never constructed)Woods South Shore Div of Green Lake
Green Lake BoulevardEast Green Lake Way NWoods South Shore Div of Green Lake, Woodlawn Addition to Green Lake
The TerraceAshworth Ave NWoods South Shore Div of Green Lake
First AveWoodlawn Ave NWoods South Shore Div of Green Lake
Lincoln AveWallingford Ave NWoods South Shore Div of Green Lake, Wallingford's Div of Green Lakesouth of N 57th St
Ladd AveKenwood Pl NWoods South Shore Div of Green Lake"Kenwood Boulevard"?
BoulevardN 57th StWoods South Shore Div of Green Lakenorth of N 57th - this is "Kenwood Boulevard"
KenwoodKenwood Pl NWoods South Shore Div of Green Lake
Second AveMcKinley Pl NWoods South Shore Div of Green Lake
Canton Street5th Ave NEKilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Chicago StreetLatona Ave NEKilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Carter Street1st Ave NEKilbourne's Div of Green Lake, Burns & Atkinson Add
Kenosia StreetN 60th StKilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Corliss StreetCorliss AveKilbourne's Div of Green Lake, Burns & Atkinson Add
Ladd StN 56th St1912 Baist Mapbtw Keystone and Kensingtonin in Kilbourne's Green Lake
Lincoln StN 52nd St1912 Baist Mapbtw Keystone and Kensingtonin in Wood's South Div
Lawrence StN 54th St1912 Baist Mapbtw Keystone and Kensingtonin in Wood's South Div
Kimball AveN 56th StKilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Kenwood BoulevardN 57th StKilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Kennebeck AveN 58th StKilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Kenilworth AveN 59th StKilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Baseline AveN 55th StKilbourne's Div of Green Lake
Harrison AveWoodlawn Ave NWallingford's Div of Green Lake
InterlakeN 65th StBurns & Atkinson Add
GatesN 64th StBurns & Atkinson Add
EllwoodN 63rd StBurns & Atkinson Add
McEdwardsN 62nd StBurns & Atkinson Add
AlstonN 61st StBurns & Atkinson Add
EllaMeridian Ave NBurns & Atkinson Add
Park Side Ave20th ave NEWood's Green Lake Park
Laurel Ave19th Ave NEWood's Green Lake Park
Summit Ave18th Ave NEWood's Green Lake Park
Crown Ave17th Ave NEWood's Green Lake Park
Maple Ave16th Ave NEWood's Green Lake Park
Lake View Ave15th Ave NEWood's Green Lake Park, Pitner's 3rd Div of Green Lake, Pleasant Ridge Div of Green Lake
Inter-Lake AveNE 65th StWood's Green Lake Park
Osborne StNE 68th StWood's Green Lake Park
Sumner StNE 70th StWood's Green Lake Park
Prospect StNE 73rd StWood's Green Lake Park, Pitner's 3rd Div of Green LakeVacated in Pitner's 3rd for reservoir
Webster StNE 75th StWood's Green Lake Park
Prospect PlaceN 67th StWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
First AveWoodlawn Ave NWoodlawn Addition to Green Lakewest of 1st Ave NE
First AveWoodlawn Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lakeeast of 1st Ave NE
Summit PlaceChapin Pl NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Yosemite AveSunnyside AveWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Yellowstone Ave1st Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Humbolt Ave2nd Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Erie StLatona Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Tahoe Ave4th Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Latona Ave5th Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeSoutheast from East Green Lake Way
Ravenna Ave70th St NEWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeFrom Green Lake to Weedin/5th Ave NE
Meadow AveRavenna Blvd NEWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeOrd 19290, 1908; rest of blvd created in 15924 (1908) and renamed in 19290 as well
Oswego AveOswego Pl NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Ravenna AveWeedin Pl NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Huron AveNE 66th StWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeEast of 5th Ave NE
Chelan StNE 67th StWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeEast of 5th Ave NE
Lomond StNE 68th StWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeEast of 5th Ave NE
Lucerne StNE 69th StWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeEast of 5th Ave NE
Nellie StNE 70th StWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake, Wallingford's Park Div of Green Lake, Pitner's 3rd Div of Green LakeEast of 5th Ave NE
Itasea AveNE 71st StWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeWest of 5th Ave NE
Woodlawn AveNE 72nd StWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeWest of 5th Ave NE
Oneida StNE 73rd StWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake, Saben's Div of Green Lake, C. L. Stone's Green LakeWest of 5th Ave NE
Maple Leaf AveMaple Leaf PlWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeWest of 5th Ave NE
Minnetonka Ave4th Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeSouth of NE 75th St
Winnepeg AveLatona Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake, Green Lake Home AddSouth of NE 75th St. In Home add, it was vacated during replat.
Seneca Ave2nd Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green LakeReplatted in Green Lake Home Add; South of NE 7th St
Green Lake BoulevardEast Green Lake Dr NWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake, Green Lake Home Add
(unnamed)8th Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Maple St9th ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake
Frost St5th Ave NEWoodlawn Addition to Green Lake, Wallingford's Park Div of Green Lakenorth of E 70th St
West Ave8th Ave NEWeedin's Add
North StNE 65th StWeedin's Add
Spring StNE 64th StWeedin's Add
Cedar StNE 63rd StWeedin's Add
Alder StNE 62nd StWeedin's Add
Weedin Ave9th ave NEWeedin's Add
East Ave10th Ave NEWeedin's Add
Park AveMaple Leaf PlWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake5th Ave NE to 9th Ave NE
Park AveNE 74th StWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake9th Ave NE to 10th Ave NE
Elizabeth AveNE 74th StWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake5th Ave NE to NE 73rd St
Ravenna StNE 73rd StWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake
Eva StNE 72nd StWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake
Wood StNE 71st StWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake
First St6th Ave NEWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake
Second St8th Ave NEWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake
Third St9th ave NEWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake
Emma Pl(I-5)Wallingford's Park Div of Green LakeNamed after Emma Wallingford (daughter of John Wallingford)
Arabella Pl(vacated)Wallingford's Park Div of Green LakeNamed after Arabella Wallingford (wife of John Wallingford); vacated in Wallingford's Park Supplemental in 1901
Maple StRoosevelt Way NEWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake
High StNE 75th StWallingford's Park Div of Green Lake
Motor AveNE 69th StJames Div of Green Lake
Lake AveNE 68th StJames Div of Green Lake
Hall AveNE 67th StJames Div of Green Lake
Olympic AveNE 66th StJames Div of Green Lake
James St12th Ave NEJames Div of Green LakeNamed after N.A. and Fannie James
Minnesota AveLatona Ave NEKrauch's Div of Green Lake, Pitner's Div of Green Lake, Pitner's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Hutchinson's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Dodge's Division of Green Lake, Saben's Div of Green Lake
Illinois Ave2nd Ave NEKrauch's Div of Green Lake, Green Lake Home Add, Pitner's Div of Green Lake, Pitner's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Dodge's Division of Green Lake
Michigan Ave1st Ave NEKrauch's Div of Green Lake, Green Lake Home Add, Pitner's Div of Green Lake, Pitner's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Dodge's Division of Green Lake
Fawn StNE 77th StKrauch's Div of Green Lake, Pitner's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Saben's Div of Green Lake, C. L. Stone's Green Lake
Denny AveWallingford Ave NGreen Lake Home Add
Stroud AveStroud Ave NGreen Lake Home Add
Sunset AveN 78th StGreen Lake Home Add
South View AveN 77th StGreen Lake Home Add
Olympic CtOrin Ct NGreen Lake Home AddStill Olympic in 1912
Garden AveBagley Ave NGreen Lake Home Add
Brookside AveCorliss Ave NGreen Lake Home Add
Sunnyside AveSunnyside Ave NGreen Lake Home Add
Crescent PlN 75th StReplat Green Lake Home Add
Home StMeridian Ave NReplat Green Lake Home Add
Deer StN 80th StReplat Green Lake Home Add, Pitner's Div of Green Lake
Deer StNE 80th StPitner's Div of Green Lake, Pitner's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Hutchinson's 2nd Div of Green Lake
Stroud AveN 80th StGreen Lake Home Addwest of Stroud Ave and 80th intersection until Burke Ave N; south side of street
Ohio AveCorliss Ave NPitner's Div of Green Lake, Evans Div of Green Lake"Avenu" in Pitner's
Indiana AveSunnyside Ave NPitner's Div of Green Lake
Buffalo StN 85th StPitner's Div of Green Lake, Evans Div of Green Lake, Dodge's Division of Green Lake
Elk StNE 82nd StPitner's Div of Green Lake, Dodge's Division of Green Lake, Green Lake Electric, Johnson's Green Lake
Elk StN 82nd StPitner's Div of Green Lake, Evans Div of Green Lake
Grant Street14th Ave NEPitner's 3rd Div of Green LakeLabeled "(Brooklyn) 13th Ave NE" in 1912 Baist
Corran StBrooklyn Ave NEPitner's 3rd Div of Green Lake
James St12th Ave NEPitner's 3rd Div of Green Lake
Fairview St6th Ave NEWallingford's Park Supplemental,
Vista AveNE 77th StHutchinson's Div
Groreland AveNE 76th StHutchinson's Div
Lake AveNE 75th StHutchinson's Div
Nevins St5th Ave NEHutchinson's Div, C. L. Stone'sNamed after Richard Nevins Jr, Civil Eng, who made drawings for both Huthinson's and Stone's
Fair View St6th Ave NEHutchinson's Div
Forest St8th Ave NEHutchinson's DivIn 1912 Baist, Forest/8th doesn't exist yet and is part of undeveloped neighboring property. In 1904 Sanborn, unclear.
Richard's StNE 82nd StHutchinson's 2nd Div of Green Lake
Princess StNE 81st StHutchinson's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Green Lake Electric, Johnson's Green Lake"Princes" in Johnson's
Nevada Ave4th Ave NEHutchinson's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Dodge's Division of Green Lake
Arizona Ave5th Ave NEHutchinson's 2nd Div of Green Lake, Dodge's Division of Green Lake
Touchet AveMeridian Ave NEvans Div of Green Lake
Walla Walla AveBagley Ave NEvans Div of Green Lake
Longwood StNE Longwood PlSaben's Div of Green Lake, C. L. Stone's Green Lake
York StNE 80th StGreen Lake Electric, Johnson's Green Lake
Adelaide StNE 83rd StGreen Lake Electric, Johnson's Green Lake
Lillian StNE 84th StGreen Lake Electric, Johnson's Green Lake
Prest StNE 85th StGreen Lake Electric, Johnson's Green LakeNamed after Thomas and Sarah Prest
A St5th Ave NEGreen Lake Electric
B St8th Ave NEGreen Lake Electric, Johnson's Green Lake
C stRoosevelt Way NEJohnson's Green Lake
East St17th Ave NEPleasant Ridge Div of Green LakeWebster Pl in 1912 Baist
North StNE 77th StPleasant Ridge Div of Green LakeBetween 15th NE and 17th Ave NE
Central AveNE 76th StPleasant Ridge Div of Green LakeBetween 15th NE and 17th Ave NE

Here it is for free use on figshare.

Data context

Off and on for a handful of years I’ve been working on a list of all of the buildings constructed in 1890. The Seattle P-I published the list on January 1, 1891, celebrating the city’s rebirth after the Great Fire. It’s an amazing snapshot, but the building locations are nonsensical because almost all of Seattle’s streets were renamed in the years following the Great Fire.

To determine where they were I created spreadsheets of a series of ordinances that renamed the city. For areas without ordinances to be found, I looked through a variety of 1880s to 1910s maps to determine old and new street names. I also published all of that data as csv files to figshare for free use, and I’ve posted them to my website as lookup tables for quick searching.

Find links to all of the neighborhoods at the bottom of this page. This time I cover Green Lake. Later there will be more.

The Green Lake context

Just 25 buildings were built in Green Lake in 1890, but it’s still a missing neighborhood in my effort to pinpoint the current spot for all homes, barns, and brick buildings constructed in Seattle in 1890.

Green Lake’s earliest plats date from 1888, just before Seattle’s Great Fire. A handful of land owners worked together to build a streetcar line and sell their land in parcels to prospective homeowners. By 1890 the east and south side of the lake were laid out and up for sale. With each plat came a set of new street names.

I don’t know exactly when the names changed, but by the end of the 1890s Green Lake’s street grid was just about how we know it today. Green Lake was annexed into Seattle in 1891 along with other communities north of the water barrier of Lake Union, Queen Anne, and Montlake.

All of the streets of Seattle south of what we now call the ship canal and Fremont cut were renamed by an ordinance in 1895. Smaller ordinances changed names just prior and after that. I have not found such an ordinance for Green Lake, or the other 1891 annexed communities. I don’t know if that means another method was used to change Green Lake’s street names, or if it just had a different syntax of ordinance title that escapes my discovery.

Wonky streets

If you’ve been there, you know the streets are wonky in Green Lake. When you see that, you can be pretty sure that something weird was going on in the heads of the people that laid out the maps, and weird things have happened since.

Two things have stood out to me so far. First is Wallingford’s Division of the Green Lake Addition. Wallingford made his plat a Civil War Union memorial. The names were Lincoln (Wallingford), Sheridan (N 54th), Thomas (N 53rd), Sherman (N 52nd) and Grant (N 51st). He also included Harrison (Woodlawn), named after the president in 1889 when the plat was filed.

Second is Kilbourne’s div of Green Lake. The Kilbournes knew they kouldn’t keep knaming streets with Ks, but they tried anyways. The off-kilter streets Kensington, Kirkwood, Keystone, and Kenwood all came from Kilbourne. They also had cross streets Kenosia (N 60th), Kenilworth (59th), Kennebeck (58th), and Kimball (56th).

Today our tiny Kenwood Place starts at the lake and runs southeast to N 55th. It was created as Kenwood Boulevard though, which was east-west (57th) from the edge of their plat to Kirkwood, then bent north (still 57th now), then bent north again to the lake (the north half of current Kenwood Place). It was platted at 80 feet, while surrounding streets were 60 or 66.

Widths on Kenwood Place in Green Lake
Kenwood Place must be the biggest tiny street in Seattle!

If you look at the aerial map, Kenwood Place now has inexplicably massive intersections with Woodlawn and McKinley — these are all back roads. And the houses from East Green Lake Way to 57th are set waaay back from the street. That’s because it was supposed to be a boulevard entrance to the neighborhood. It was supposed to be like Ravenna is today.

Something that happened later is a bit surprising too. Ladd Ave in Wood’s South Shore became the narrow half of Kenwood Place. But then the section of N 56th between Keystone and Kensington — which had been named Kimball — was renamed Ladd for some period of time.

Similarly, Wallingford’s Lincoln Ave became Wallingford Ave, but also the section of N 52nd between Keystone and Kensington — which was named Sherman — for some time was called Lincoln. I don’t understand why they shifted these street names over to connecting streets.

Along the way I stumbled on a cool voting district map from 1891. Green Lake was annexed in the middle of the year, so they added in all of the streets, but for some reason had to literally pencil in the street names. Maybe they ran out of time? In Wood’s South Shore (up and left of the “9”), the streets are penciled in as well.

Street names penciled into an old map of Green Lake
1891 “Wards and precincts of the City of Seattle” map. SMA 1427

Wallingford’s Park

Wallingford’s Park Division of Green Lake is interesting and tragic. It’s a very early Green Lake plat.

Since it was filed in November 1889 we need to think of both streetcar-inspired demand for remote single family homes, and the demand created by displaced Pioneer Square residents from the Great Fire and the people that flooded the city as it rebuilt.

Two things make it interesting to me. First, Wallingford named two short streets after his wife Arabella and his daughter Emma though neither street exists now. Coincidentally, my great, great grandfather Fred Stroud worked for Wallingford and my gg grandmother was Arabella Stroud, sharing the name of his employer’s wife.

The streets were removed separately. First Arabella Place was removed in a replat of the northeast corner of the addition. The curved streets of the addition needed to be reworked to match Hutchinson’s Division to the north. Removed by 1912. Then Emma Place was erased in the creation of Interstate 5.

Interstate 5 also completely erased the second interesting part of the plat. Wallingford had many curving streets in his small addition, and at the soft corners he put in a fan-like spread of wedge shaped lots. 1936 aerial photos show that many of these were combined for large lots, but in particular the fan on the north corner of the intersection of Maple Leaf Pl, Emma Pl, NE 74th St, and 9th Ave NE (removed for I-5) still had most of the fan intact.

The neighborhoods on either side of I-5 do have many off-kilter streets, but there’s nothing like the rolling streets of Wallingford’s Park Division. East Green Lake Way and Woodlawn curve, but to match the shoreline of the lake.

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4 Comments

  1. L. Syrene Forsman

    Thanks! You’re doing a good thing! Old memories evoked by your book.

    I’m 78, born in Seattle (Phinney Ridge) raised Shoreline, lived Magnolia 1964 -2015. Too many people, too much traffic. I’m now in Sequim.

    Syrene Forsman

  2. […] street was named for Fred and Arabella Stroud, great-grandparents of my friend, local historian Rob Ketcherside. Writes […]

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