Ravenna is a
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...
in northeastern
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington named after
Ravenna
Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
, Italy. Though Ravenna is considered a residential neighborhood, it also is home to several businesses, many of which are located in the
University Village, a shopping mall.
Ravenna Park, located near University Village and the walking or biking route connecting
Green Lake to
Burke–Gilman Trail
The Burke–Gilman Trail is a rail trail in King County, Washington. The multi-use recreational trail is part of the King County Regional Trail System and occupies an abandoned Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway (SLS&E) corridor.
A po ...
, is located within the neighborhood.
Ravenna and Ravenna-Bryant
Human habitation in what is now Ravenna dates to the end of 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. 8000 BCE). Before Euro‑American settlement, the land formed part of the homeland of the
Duwamish—the ''D
khw’Duw’Absh'' (“People of the Inside”)—one of the
Coast Salish nations. Their village of ''SWAH‑tsoo‑gweel'' (“portage”) stood on nearby
Union Bay, while the forested wetland that became Ravenna served as a vital backyard and travel corridor.
Founding and early development (1880s–1900s)
The
Burke–Gilman Trail
The Burke–Gilman Trail is a rail trail in King County, Washington. The multi-use recreational trail is part of the King County Regional Trail System and occupies an abandoned Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway (SLS&E) corridor.
A po ...
follows the route of the
Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway
The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway (SLS&E) was a railroad founded in Seattle, Washington, on April 28, 1885, with three tiers of purposes: Build and run the initial line to the town of Ballard, Seattle, Ballard, bring immediate results ...
, which reached the district about 1886. In 1890, mining and real‑estate entrepreneur **William Wirt Beck** (1851–1944) platted roughly 400 acres with an eye to creating an ideal community modeled on
Ravenna, Italy
Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its collapse in 476, after which it served as ...
. That same year he opened the *Seattle Female College* in his home—still standing a few blocks east of today’s Ravenna Park—and helped launch the Ravenna Flouring Mill Company, which built King County’s first grist mill. Beck also preserved 70 acres of old‑growth timber in the ravine that became Ravenna Park.
A streetcar line began service in 1891 along 14th Avenue NE (now University Way NE), skirted the south edge of Ravenna Park, and connected the suburb to downtown Seattle. In 1903, the
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was a Landscape architecture, 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 ar ...
incorporated Ravenna Boulevard into their citywide parks‑and‑boulevards plan, giving the neighborhood its signature diagonal greenway.
Annexation and land changes
Ravenna incorporated as a town in 1906 and was annexed by Seattle the following year. At annexation, the town limits stretched from 15th Avenue NE to 20th Avenue NE north of NE 65th Street and to 30th Avenue NE south of NE 65th, with NE 55th Street forming the southern edge.
After the 1916 opening of the
Montlake Cut, Union Bay’s water level dropped, exposing mudflats that were progressively filled during the 1910s–1950s. The southernmost reclaimed land later hosted University Village, an open‑air shopping center that opened in 1956.
Boundaries
Modern Ravenna is bounded on the west by 15th and 20th Avenues NE, beyond which lies
Roosevelt; on the north by NE 75th and 85th Streets, adjacent to
Maple Leaf and
Wedgwood
Wedgwood is an English China (material), fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons L ...
; on the east by 25th and 35th Avenues NE, facing
View Ridge,
Windermere
Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...
and
Laurelhurst; and on the south by NE Ravenna Boulevard and NE Blakeley or NE 45th Streets, across from the
University District and University Village. The neighboring area commonly called *Ravenna–Bryant* extends the eastern edge to 45th Avenue NE between NE 75th Street and Sand Point Way NE.
Transportation
The principal arterial through the neighborhood is 25th Avenue NE, while 15th and 35th Avenues NE and NE 65th Street function as minor arterials. NE 40th Avenue NE and NE 55th Street serve as collectors. NE Ravenna Boulevard is a signed local bikeway, and 20th Avenue NE has been closed to motor vehicles since 1975, creating a popular pedestrian and cycling route over the former 20th Avenue Bridge.
Community landmarks and events
Since 1951, residents of Park Road—locally famous as **Candy Cane Lane**—have mounted an elaborate December lights display, drawing bumper‑to‑bumper evening traffic. A corner grocery has operated on Ravenna Boulevard since the 1920s, while Queen Mary Tea Room (known for Victorian afternoon tea), the Duchess Tavern (established 1934), and Seattle’s only family‑owned Volvo dealership round out the neighborhood’s longstanding businesses.
The late‑19th‑century view above looks northeast across the depot (foreground center) toward the Seattle Female College on the hillside, with the Ravenna Flouring Mill in the foreground; several buildings shown, including the Phillips House, remain standing today.
Ravenna-Cowen Park
The conjoined
Cowen Park and Ravenna Park is located at a southwest corner of Ravenna-Bryant, reaching from beyond the source of
Ravenna Creek beside nearby Brooklyn Avenue and Ravenna Boulevard, under the 15th Avenue bridge to 25th Avenue NE. The parks comprise the centerpiece of the neighborhood.
For many decades of Seattle city history, the park ravine had been ignored by loggers and farmers and still possessed full
old-growth timber rising nearly 400 feet. The trees remained through the
Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition
The Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, acronym AYP or AYPE, was a world's fair held in Seattle in 1909 publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest. It was originally planned for 1907 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Klondike Gold ...
of 1908, at which they were featured exhibitions. Public controversy about them declined after their gradual disappearance in suspicious circumstances by 1926.
Today, none of that size remain anywhere in the world. The legacy helped save
Seward and
Carkeek parks, and helped galvanize conservation efforts ever since. Today, a single
Sierra Redwood stands over the Medicinal Herb Garden at a south edge of the
UW campus, at 106 feet somewhat over a quarter of the height of those of Cowen Park-Ravenna Park.
Ravenna Creek
Projects have included
daylighting portions of the creek (partly with the goal of restoring native fish runs), building and maintaining trails, and restoring
riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...
habitat, sometimes in collaboration with the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
's environmental science program.
Completion of downstream daylighting to the mouth of the creek beside
Union Bay Natural Area and restoration of migrating fish has come into conflict with property owners, specifically the owners of University Village, even though a revised daylighting project would not include their land.
[(1) Higgins (1997-12-06) "Residents" ]
(2) O'Neil (1998)
(3)
See also
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Ravenna-Cowen North Historic District
References
Bibliography
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* — see heading "Note about limitations of these data".
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* — maps NN‑1030S & NN‑1040S dated 17 June 2002.
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* — links to "Village Descriptions Duwamish-Seattle"; cites Waterman, Buerge, Smith, etc.
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* — draws on Dorpat & Crowley, Crowley *Rites of Passage*, and other U-District histories.
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* — high-, medium-, and low-resolution PDFs available.
* — note caveat in footer.
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Further reading
* — Aerial image of Ravenna Park and the greater University District to Union Bay–Portage Bay.
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* — Viewing locations only; the full book includes walks, hikes, wildlife, and natural wonders. "With additions by Sunny Walter and local Audubon chapters."
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External links
Seattle.gov: Seattle Department of Neighborhoods – Ravenna
{{Seattle neighborhoods
Former municipalities in Washington (state)
Streetcar suburbs