Seattle 2010 - Queen Anne + Capitol Hill neighborhoods

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This album features photos from two of my favorite neighborhoods in Seattle, both of which need further extensive exploring ;o)

QUEEN ANNE NEIGHBORHOOD
Queen Anne Hill is a neighborhood & geographic feature in Seattle northwest of downtown. The neighborhood sits on the highest named hill in the city with a maximum elevation of 456 feet. The hill became a popular spot for the city's early economic & cultural elite to build their mansions, & the name derives from the architectural style typical of many of the early homes. Lots of extra info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Anne,_Seattle

http://www.visitseattle.org/neighborhoods/queen-anne/

Historical society web site with many photos of historic residences etc incl slide show:
http://qahistory.org/



CAPITOL HILL NEIGHBORHOOD
Capitol Hill is a densely populated residential district in Seattle. It is also one of the city's most prominent nightlife & entertainment districts & the center of the city's counterculture communities. (A large-scale gay residential settlement on Capitol Hill began in the early 1960s, accordingly, this district is home to a sizable number of gay and lesbian couples.

Capitol Hill district is situated on a steep hill just east of the city's central business district. (Capitol Hill has half of Seattle's 12 steepest street grades.) It’s main thoroughfare is Broadway Ave which forms the commercial heart of the district. At the highest point on Capitol Hill (444.5 feet) is the water tower which is next to Volunteer Park.

Capitol Hill contains some of Seattle's wealthiest neighborhoods, including "Millionaire's Row" along 14th Avenue E. south of Volunteer Park & the Harvard-Belmont Landmark District. It also has many distinguished apartment houses as well as a few surviving Classical Revival complexes. Lots of info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_%!S(MISSING)eattle%!#(MISSING)Landmarks_and_institutions

http://www.visitseattle.org/neighborhoods/capitol-hill/

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Photos

QUEEN ANNE DISTRICT (qa)
Seattle skyline view from Queen Anne Hill.

qa - Victoria Condo Complex
Victoria Condo is 4 story vintage building perched on the south slope of Queen Ann Hill on West Highland just steps from Kerry Park. It was built in 1921 and converted to a condo complex in 1998. More info:
http://www.seattlecondoreview.com/2010/06/queen-anne-victoria-condo.html
More info on apartment development on Queen Anne Hill:
http://qahistory.org/apartment-development.html
More photos:
http://qahistory.org/historic-apartments.html

qa - Condo complex at 133 Queen Anne Ave N
The views from here must be great!

qa - One of many mansions & historic residences
in Queen Anne neighborhood, many on Prospect & Highlands Sts. Great source for locations & photos:
http://qahistory.org/historic-residences.html

Lower Queen Anne neighborhood (lq)
at the base of Queen Anne Hill, usually refers to the shopping, office, and residential districts to the north and west of Seattle Center. The neighborhood is connected to Upper Queen Anne—the shopping district at the top of the hill—by an extremely steep section of Queen Anne Avenue N. known as the Counterbalance, in memory of the cable cars that once ran up and down it.

lq - Quaint restaurant sign
Because of its proximity to Seattle Center, Lower Queen Anne is home to some 100 restaurants, bars, and fast-food locations& nestled on the side streets amongst the apartment and condo communities are an array of retail shops. More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Queen_Anne,_Seattle

CAPITOL HILL NEIGHBORHOOD (ch)
Old Firehouse No. 25 – Harvard Avenue and East Union Street – Seattle’s first brick firehouse built in 1909, “Firehouse 25 was also unique for its terraced equipment bays necessitated by its hillside location.

ch - Old firehouse cont'd
Originally designed for horse-drawn equipment, stables, barn and horse stalls were located in the rear of the building. The last horse-drawn wagon was replaced in 1920. It also served as the Fire Department’s blacksmith shop, from which the smithy made his rounds of the other firehouses.

Comments

[Fred Perry]

A great article, Rainy !
Boy oh boy, you've outdone yourself here! Thanks for all the research, as reflected in the extra web-sites that you have listed. Your choice of houses and other buildings gives new insight into the beauties of Seattle, which is starting to look and sound similar to San Francisco. I like the saturation of colours in your photos too. Bravo Zulu !