Licton Springs or North College Park 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 the informal Northgate district of North

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 ...

. It is bounded by

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 is

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 ...

neighborhood and the Northgate Mall; Aurora Avenue N ( SR 99) to the west, beyond which is Greenwood; N 85th Street to the south, beyond which is Green Lake, and N Northgate Way to the north, beyond which is Haller Lake.

Licton Springs

Licton Springs is both a residential neighborhood and a natural spring at the north end of Licton Springs Park, which has a long history as both a unique recreational spot and a commercial crossroads. The neighborhood, wedged between the busy corridors of Interstate 5 and Aurora Avenue, takes its name from ''líq’tәd'' (''LEEK-teed'') or Licton, the Lushootseed (Whulshootseed)

Coast Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coas ...

word for the reddish mud of the springs—. The ''Dkh^w’Duw’Absh'', People of the Inside and ''Xacuabš'', People of the Large Lake, Lushootseed (Skagit-Nisqually) Coast Salish native people had used the springs area as a spiritual health spa since the area was populated after the last

glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

(c. 8,000 BCE—10,000 years ago). In the 1850s, the ''Dkh^w’Duw’Absh'' and ''Xacuabš'' became the

Duwamish tribe The Duwamish ( lut, Dxʷdəwʔabš, ) are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe in western Washington, and the indigenous people of metropolitan Seattle, where they have been living since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8000 BCE ...

of today. In October 2019, the spring and the park that surrounds it were designated a city landmark, the first Native cultural site to be so designated.

Settlement

Seattle pioneer

David Denny David Thomas Denny (March 17, 1832, Part II: Chapter 3, p. 203 – November 25, 1903) was a member of the Denny Party, who are generally collectively credited as the founders of Seattle, Washington, USA. Though he ultimately underwent bankr ...

built a summer cabin near the springs around 1870. The natural

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

fed Green Lake before it was capped and drained to the Metro sewer system after it became contaminated by residential development (1920, 1931). The

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law ...

designed a park for Licton Springs, as part of a grand streets and parks plan for Seattle (1930s), but this park was never implemented. A park does exist today (where Woodlawn Avenue curves to connect with N 95th Street) in which the spring is located. In the mid-1960s restoration began with bond issues and increasing volunteer assistance, resulting in a small pond and natural wetland vegetation as well as urban park amenities. A Native American presence continues in the neighborhood through the Indian Heritage School at Wilson-Pacific. This school hosts frequent Indian Pow Wows and spectacular wall murals by Indian artist Andrew Morrison. Licton Springs Playground

The Everett and

Interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

Railway Company (1900–1936) came past the neighborhood in 1906. The trolleys became a part of everyday life and development of residential neighborhoods around trolley stops. Running on a narrow right-of-way through backyards, the whistle became part of the atmosphere of neighborhoods like Licton Springs. In the early years, the line ran through cut forest and rural farms. A few sawmills along the way gave the line a business hauling lumber. The rough wagon road became Aurora Avenue N (1930) after being paved with brick (1913) and asphalt (1928). A most distinctive early feature was the motorist "tourist camps", "auto camps", and later, "auto courts", then the now-familiar motels. One or two still remained at the turn of the 21st century. The Pilling family had a dairy farm (1909–1933), out of which grew the waterfowl habitat and birding site of

Pilling's Pond Pilling's Pond is a privately owned urban waterfowl reserve and breeding ground in the North Seattle neighborhood of Licton Springs, Seattle, Washington. It was created by lifetime resident Charles A. Pilling and has been a bird breeding site and ...

today.Walter & local Audubon chapters Japanese-Americans had greenhouses and small farms until they were abruptly forcibly removed with the

Internment of Japanese Americans Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

(1942–1945).

North College Park

Seattle annexed most of North Seattle in 1954. North College Park became defined with the Licton Springs neighborhood with the establishment of

North Seattle College North Seattle College (NSC or North Seattle) is a public college in the northwest United States, located in Seattle, Washington. It is one of three colleges comprising the Seattle Colleges District and part of the Washington Community and ...

(1970). Licton Springs and the Sunny Walter–Pillings Pond are part of the Densmore Drainage Basin. The springs at the North Police Precinct and North Seattle Community College are headwaters of the south fork of

Thornton Creek Thornton Creek is of urban creeks and tributaries from southeast Shoreline through northeast Seattle to Lake Washington. Its watershed, the largest in Seattle, exhibits relatively dense biodiversity for an urban setting;Brokaw it is home to f ...

; this fork flows through culverts under I-5 and the south lot of Northgate Mall development.Bowditch, Wang, & Wilson These neighborhoods are natural extensions of

downstream.Brokaw Neighborhood activists and North Seattle Community College (NSCC) have been promoting habitat restoration in support. NSCC grounds have a nationally-recognized native habitat, a

pentimento A pentimento (plural pentimenti), in painting, is "the presence or emergence of earlier images, forms, or strokes that have been changed and painted over". The word is , from the verb , meaning 'to repent'. Significance Pentimenti may show that ...

of restored native species on a

palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off so that the page can be reused for another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid skin an ...

of former 1940s suburb, former dairy farm, former bog where native ''Dkhw’Duw’Absh'' harvested cranberries.

References

Bibliography

* *
See heading, "Note about limitations of these data". *
Elise Bowditch, Teaching Assistant; Man Wang, Teaching Assistant; Matthew W. Wilson, Research Associate. * *
Page links to Village Descriptions Duwamish-Seattle section.
Dailey referenced "Puget Sound Geography" by T. T. Waterman. Washington DC: National Anthropological Archives, mss. .d. ef. 2
''Duwamish et al. vs. United States of America, F-275''. Washington DC: US Court of Claims, 1927.

ef. 5 EF or ef may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ef (band), a post-rock band from Sweden * '' Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two.'', a Japanese adult visual novel series by Minori, or its anime adaptations Businesses and organizations * Eagle Forum, an ...

"Indian Lake Washington" by David Buerge in the ''Seattle Weekly'', 1–7 August 1984

ef. 8 EF or ef may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ef (band), a post-rock band from Sweden * '' Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two.'', a Japanese adult visual novel series by Minori, or its anime adaptations Businesses and organizations * Eagle Forum, an ...

"Seattle Before Seattle" by David Buerge in the ''Seattle Weekly'', 17–23 December 1980. ef. 9
''The Puyallup-Nisqually'' by Marian W. Smith. New York: Columbia University Press, 1940. ef. 10
Recommended start is "Coast Salish Villages of Puget Sound". * *
Was, NF. * *
Includes bibliography. *
"NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002. * * * *
Sources for this atlas and the neighborhood names used in it include a 1980 neighborhood map produced by the Department of Community Development (relocated to th
Department of Neighborhoods
and other agencies),

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 ...

indexes, a 1984-1986 Neighborhood Profiles feature series in the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', numerous parks, land use and transportation planning studies, and records in th
Seattle Municipal Archives

aps_"NN-1120S",_"NN-1130S",_"NN-1140S".Jpg_[sicdated_13_June_2002;_"NN-1030S",_"NN-1040S".jpg_dated_17_June_2002..html" ;"title="ic.html" ;"title="aps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg [sic">aps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg [sicdated 13 June 2002; "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002.">ic.html" ;"title="aps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg [sic">aps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg [sicdated 13 June 2002; "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002.* *
Authors referenced Clarence B. Bagley, ''History of Seattle'' (Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1916); Sophie Frye Bass, ''Pig-Tail Days in Old Seattle'' (Portland: Binfords & Mort, 1937); David Buerge, "The Maps of the Early Shoreline Area", typescript dated 1996, Shoreline Historical Museum; David Buerge, "Any There There?" ''The Weekly'', June 18, 1997; David Buerge, "Seattle Before Seattle", ''The Weekly'', December 17–23, 1980; Paul Burch, "The Story of Licton Springs", ''The Westerner'', September 1908; W. E. Chambers, "The Pacific Highway", ''The Argus'', December 17, 1921; Isobel Chapman, ''Northgate Reflections'' (Seattle: Isobel Chapman, May 1977); "The Club Salutes Lawrence Denny Lindsley", ''The Mountaineer'', June 1974; Laura C. Daly, "A History of Cemeteries in the City of Seattle...", typescript dated 1984 in possession of Evergreen-Washelli, Seattle; Laura C. Daly, "Seattle's 'Cemetery of the Land of the Hereafter'", ''Portage'', vol. 5, No. 1-2 (Winter/Spring 1984); Emily Inez Denny, ''Blazing the Way'' (Seattle: Rainier Printing Company, 1909); Emily Inez Denny, Notebooks, Museum of History and Industry, Seattle (hereafter MOHAI); Victory Denny, Notebooks – Licton Springs, MOHAI; "Denny’s Mineral Springs", ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', October 13, 1883, p. 2; Margaret Collins Denny Dixon and Elizabeth Chapman Denny Vann, Denny Genealogy, Vols. 1-3 (New York: National Historical Society: 1944-1951); Paul Dorpat, "Licton Park Home", ''The Seattle Times'', September 15, 1996; ''The Freeways in Seattle'', (Olympia: Washington State Highway Commission, 1962); Faye M. Garneau, "History of Aurora" in Aurora Avenue Merchants Association Newsletter; "Henry L. Denny, Sound Pioneer, Celebrates 91", ''The Seattle Times'', September 15, 1929; King County, Real Property Assessment Rolls, various dates; Janice Krenmayr, ''Footloose in Seattle, Vol. 1'' (Seattle: Seattle Times Company, 1963); ''Kroll’s Atlas of King County'' (Seattle: Kroll Map Company, 1912 and 1926); Calvin Lew, "Principles Used in Planning and Developing Suburban Shopping Centers...", MBA thesis, University of Washington, 1951; "Licton Park to be Site of Sanitarium", ''The Interlaken'', March 9, 1907; Rae Tufts, "Little-known Park has Hot Springs", ''The Seattle Times'', September 12, 1982; Jay Miller, ''Shamanic Odyssey: The Lushootseed Salish Journey to the Land of the Dead'' (Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press, 1988); Brandt Morgan, ''Enjoying Seattle’s Parks'', (Seattle: Greenwood Publications, 1979); Gordon Newell, ''Westward to Alki: The Story of David and Louisa Denny'' (Seattle: Superior Publishing, 1977); "The Northgate Story", ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', December 3, 1965; "Oak Lake School Scrapbook", 1886–1959, Seattle School District; Olmsted Brothers Office, plans of Licton Springs, Job No. 3347, 1907; National Park Service, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historical Site, Olmsted Plans and Drawings Collection, Brookline, MA; R. L. Polk, Seattle City Directories (various dates); Puget Sound Regional Archives, Property Record Cards; "Scenes Around Licton Springs...", ''The Seattle Times'', March 10, 1907; "Seattle Spa", Ibid., September 13, 1964; Jan Silver, "Seattle’s Painted Waters", in ''Puget Soundings'', October 1980; ''A Field Guide to Seattle’s Public Art'' ed. by Diane Shamash and Steven Huss (Seattle: 1991); Don Sherwood, "Licton Springs Park", in "Interpretive Essays of the Histories of Seattle's Parks and Playfields", handwritten bound manuscript dated 1977, Sherwood Collection at Seattle Municipal Archives; Paul Burch, "The Story of Licton Springs", ''The Westerner'', September 1908; Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr, ''Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories ''(Seattle: Seattle Public Schools, 2002); Nile Robert Thompson, "The Original Residents of Shilshole Bay" in ''Passport to Ballard'' (Seattle: Ballard News Tribune, 1988); U.S. General Land Office, Washington Plat Book, Vol. 26, 127, National Archives, Pacific Northwest Region; Oregon and Washington Donation Land Files, 1851–1903, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives, 1973); Rebecca E. Walls, "Growing and Gathering: An Adaptive Re-use Plan for Greenwood Greenhouse", master's thesis, University of Washington, 1999; Thomas Talbot Waterman, "The Geographical Names Used by Indians of the Pacific Coast", ''The Geographical Review'', Vol. 12 (1922); John R. Watt, ''Pioneering From Covered Wagons Onward'' (Roswell, GA: WH Wolfe Associates, 1995); Roberta Frye Watt, ''Four Wagons West'', (Portland: Binford & Mort, 1931); Warren W. Wing, ''To Seattle by Trolley'' (Edmonds, Washington: Pacific Fast Mail, 1988); Mimi Sheridan and Carol Tobin interview of Chuck and June Pilling, November 17, 2000; and of Sayo Harmeling and Bea Kumasaka, February 24, 2001. *
"with additions by Sunny Walter and local Audubon chapters."
Viewing locations only; the book has walks, hikes, wildlife, and natural wonders.
Walter excerpted from *
See "Northeast Seattle" section, bullet points "Meadowbrook", "Paramount Park Open Space", "North Seattle Community College Wetlands", and "Sunny Walter – Twin Ponds".

External links