Green Lake is a
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
in north central
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. Its centerpiece is the
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
and
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
after which it is named.
Its generally accepted boundaries are
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...
to the east, beyond which lie
Roosevelt
Roosevelt may refer to:
*Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president
* Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president
Businesses and organisations
* Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation)
* Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank
* Rooseve ...
and
Maple Leaf
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
History of use in Canada
By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the ...
; N 85th Street to the north, beyond which lies the neighborhood
North College Park/Licton Springs; Aurora Avenue N (
State Route 99) to the west, beyond which lies
Phinney Ridge
Phinney Ridge is a neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington, United States. It is named after the ridge which runs north and south, separating Ballard from Green Lake, from approximately N. 45th to N. 75th Street. The ridge, in turn, is ...
and
Greenwood, and N 60th Street and Woodland Park to the south, beyond which lies
Wallingford.
Its main thoroughfares are the circumferential road around the lake, known at different points as East Green Lake Way N, East Green Lake Drive N, West Green Lake Drive N, Aurora Avenue N, and West Green Lake Way N; N 65th, N 71st, and N 80th Streets (east- and westbound); Wallingford Avenue N and 1st, 5th, Latona, and Woodlawn Avenues NE (generally north- and southbound but following the contours of the shoreline at some points); Green Lake Drive N and NE Ravenna Boulevard (northwest- and southeast-bound); and Winona Avenue N (northeast- and southwest-bound).
David Phillips surveyed the Green Lake area in September 1855 for the United States Surveyor General. The first settler was Erhart Seifried with a homestead on the northeast shore of the lake in 1869. In 1891 a trolley line was extended from
Fremont along the eastern shore and around the northern end of Green Lake. Also in 1891, Green Lake was annexed to Seattle.
There is an extensive variety of housing types in Green Lake. Since 1995, the neighborhood has undergone significant redevelopment. Many houses have been completely remodeled and enlarged, often with the addition of another floor. This is a consequence of Green Lake's easy access to
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
via both Interstate 5 and
Aurora Avenue N.
The Green Lake Library, a
Carnegie library that occupies and cost $35,000 to build, was opened in 1910. In 1999 the library held 54,000 catalogued items. The library was closed during 2003 for remodeling and reopened in March 2004. It is part of the
Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the city in 1890. The sys ...
system.
Prior to the 1991
redistricting
Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...
, Green Lake formed the center of Washington's 32nd Legislative District. The well-organized and rather
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
-leaning
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
organization of that district was widely known both to friend and foe alike as "the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
of Green Lake", possibly an allusion to
James Farley
James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician and Knight of Malta who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Postmaste ...
's legendary (though possibly apocryphal) 1930s remark "there are 47 States in the Union, and the Soviet of Washington".
Green Lake is home to Green Lake Elementary School, Daniel Bagley Elementary School,
Bishop Blanchet High School
Bishop Blanchet High School is a private coeducational Catholic high school located north of Green Lake in Seattle, United States. The school was founded in 1954 by the Archdiocese of Seattle, and named for the first bishop of the diocese, A.M ...
, and Seattle Parks and Recreation Department's Green Lake Small Craft Center (GLSCC). GLSCC is the site of both Green Lake Crew, a public rowing program, and the Seattle Canoe and Kayak Club.
There is also a 2.8-mile path around the lake for runners, bikers, skaters and walkers. Many others use the athletic fields or visit the park for boating, picnics and swimming.
Landmarks
Green Lake Library is an officially designated
Seattle landmark. Other, unofficial landmarks include:
*
Beth's Cafe a notable restaurant in the Green Lake neighborhood since 1954
*
Colson House is a historic house constructed in 1904 by Charles and Sophie Colson.
References
Seattle Parks and Recreation: Green Lake Park
External links
Seattle Photograph Collection, Green Lake- University of Washington Digital Collection
{{Seattle neighborhoods