McGraw Square is a small

plaza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

and

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

stop in the Denny Triangle neighborhood of

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 ...

. The park, one of the smallest in the city park system, is named for and features a statue of former King County Sheriff and

Governor of Washington The governor of Washington is the head of government of Washington and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.WA Const. art. III, § 2. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws,WA Const. art. III, § 5. the power to either a ...

John Harte McGraw. McGraw Square is bounded to the north by Stewart Street, to the west by 5th Avenue and the

Times Square Building The Times Square Building, formerly the Times Building, is a registered landmark building in Seattle, Washington. It was completed in 1916 and housed editorial operations of the '' Seattle Times'' newspaper, which was housed there until 1930. Loc ...

, and to the east by Olive Way and the Medical Dental Building. The square was originally a parcel acquired by the

City of 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 region of N ...

in 1911 to build a

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

to be designed by 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 O ...

. Richard E. Brooks was commissioned to sculpt a bronze statue of Governor McGraw, who had died in 1910, and unveiled the finished sculpture on July 22, 1913. It was later designated as a Seattle Landmark on May 6, 1985. The statue measures approximately x x and rests on a granite base that measures approximately x x . In late 2010, the

Seattle Department of Transportation The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is a municipal government agency in Seattle, Washington that is responsible for the maintenance of the city's transportation systems, including roads, bridges, and public transportation. The agency ...

expanded the plaza over a section of Westlake Avenue and incorporating the nearby

South Lake Union Streetcar The South Lake Union Streetcar, officially the South Lake Union Line, is a streetcar route in Seattle, Washington, United States, forming part of the Seattle Streetcar system. It travels and connects Downtown Seattle to the South Lake Union n ...

terminus at a cost of $900,000, paid by a mobility grant from the

Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...

. The new plaza, which is intended to host tables and

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratc ...

s, was opened to the public on February 9, 2011.

References

External links

Seattle Parks and Recreation profile
1913 sculptures Denny Triangle, Seattle Parks in Seattle Squares in Seattle {{KingCountyWA-geo-stub

See also

References

External links