S Delappe Place

This street originates in the 1908 plat of De Lappe’s Addition to the City of Seattle, filed by Emanuel Marcellus DeLappe (1854–1928) and his wife, Catherine E. McGeehan DeLappe (1856–1934). According to the North Rainier Valley Context Statement, “[he] was a saddler and harnessmaker who came to Seattle in about 1890”; in the September 1900…

Anthony Place S

This street originates in the 1907 plat of Cascade View Addition to the City of Seattle, King County, Washington. Originally Della Street, it appears to have been renamed for William Gordon Anthony and his wife, C. Nana Anthony, who filed the plat. William, who died June 8, 1925, at the age of 64, had been…

Short Place S

This, well, short street in the Leschi neighborhood originates in Wood’s Supplemental Plat of Blocks 16 and 17, Burke’s 2nd Addition to Seattle, filed in 1887 by, among others, William D. Wood (1858−1917) and his wife, Emma Wallingford Wood (1859−1949). William, who was later mayor of Seattle from 1896 to 1897, was one of the…

Sunset Avenue SW

I enjoy writing posts on streets like W Commodore Way (I believe I am the first to have accurately identified its namesake), Division Avenue NW (I show that, even though it doesn’t divide anything from anything else today, it once served as Ballard’s eastern city limit for a few blocks), Loyal Avenue NW (I discover…

Victory Lane NE

This street, which was originally named Lake View Lane in the 1920 plat of Victory Heights, appears to have received its current name no later than August 1943, when it first appears in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as part of the obituary of Dr. Lewis R. Dawson, “dean of Seattle physicians and surgeons.” (Victory Heights was…

Mayes Court S

This street was created in 1924 as part of Mayes’ Addition to the City of Seattle, filed by Wilbur Mayes (1871–1949); his wife, May H. Stutz Mayes (1870–1948); and George Moore. According to the reports of their deaths in The Seattle Times, on October 5, 1949, and October 14, 1948, respectively, the Mayeses were married…

NE Brockman Place

This street appears to have been named for Charles Carl Brockman (1869–1954), proprietor of the unrecorded plat of Brockman’s Tracts. According to the obituary of his son, Charles Clark Brockman (1915–2010), the elder Brockman was “a Seattle pioneer who owned a grocery store [and] various real estate interests in the Denny Regrade and Lake City…

NW Culbertson Drive

This street was created in 1955 as part of the plat of Llandover-by-the-Sound, filed by (among others) Ralph Glossbrerer Culbertson (1886–1975), a developer, and his wife, Jane R. Effie Redding Culbertson (1884–1976). R.G., as he was known, appears to have earlier been in the storage and moving business, and had “an extensive acquaintance with eight…

Sherman Road NW

This street was created in 1958 as part of Northshire, an Addition to the City of Seattle, filed by Sherman O. Jensen (1919–2002) and his wife, Dorothy (1920–2008), along with Jeannette D. Jackson and her husband, Paul J. Jackson. Sherman Road NW begins at NW 137th Street and goes about 625 feet to the south,…

Frazier Place NW

This street, originally Sound View Place, was created in 1920 as part of Frazier’s Addition to King County, Washington, filed by Raymond Robert Frazier (1873–1955) and his wife, Augusta Wood Frazier (1874–1969). Raymond was president of Washington Mutual from 1915 to 1933 and its chairman from 1933 to 1941. Frazier Place NW begins at NW…

E Superior Street

This street, along with E Huron Street and Erie Avenue, was created in 1890 as part of Yesler’s Third Addition to the City of Seattle. It was named for Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, and the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. E Superior Street begins at Euclid Avenue…

E Huron Street

This street, along with E Superior Street and Erie Avenue, was created in 1890 as part of Yesler’s Third Addition to the City of Seattle. It was named for Lake Huron, second largest of the Great Lakes by surface area. E Huron Street begins at Euclid Avenue and goes 1⁄10 of a mile east to…

Erie Avenue

This street, along with E Superior Street and E Huron Street, was created in 1890 as part of Yesler’s Third Addition to the City of Seattle. It was named for Lake Erie, fourth largest of the Great Lakes by surface area. Erie Avenue begins at Leschi Park south of Lake Washington boulevard and goes ⅓…

E Olin Place

This street was created in 1925 as part of the O.W. Harris Addition, filed by Olin Whitney Harris (a car dealer) and his wife, Lily Georgine Robson Harris. (Their son, Whitney Robson Harris, a University of Washington graduate, was one of the prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials as an aide to Robert H. Jackson, chief…

Haraden Place S

This street, created in 1910 as part of the Beacon Hill View Addition to the City of Seattle, was named after Colin B. Haraden (1864–1950), secretary of the Elliott Bay Investment Company. Haraden Place S begins at Carkeek Drive S between 39th Avenue S and 40th Avenue S and goes around 450 feet north to…

S Dean Court

This street, created in 1946 along with S Vern Court as part of the Wm Culliton Addition, was named by Jules Vern Nadreau (1894–1979) and his wife, Geraldine “Dean” Mable Harvey Nadreau (1897–1958), after Geraldine’s nickname. S Dean Court begins at Beacon Avenue S and goes 285 feet west to an alley.

S Vern Court

This street was created in 1946 as part of the Wm Culliton Addition, filed by Jules Vern Nadreau (1894–1979) and his wife, Geraldine “Dean” Mable Harvey Nadreau (1897–1958). It appears to have been named after Jules’s middle name, Vern. (My assumption is that he was himself named after French novelist Jules Verne.) Its sister street,…

NE Northgate Way

This street was named in 1968 for Northgate Station, which opened in 1950 as the Northgate Center shopping mall. According to HistoryLink.org, it was “the country’s first regional shopping center to be defined as a ‘mall’ (although there were at least three predecessor shopping centers).” Newspaper archives show that it became known early on as…

Elliott Avenue

Elliott Avenue, which originated as Water Street in A.A. Denny’s 6th Addition to the City of Seattle, filed in 1873, received its current name in 1895 as part of the Great Renaming. It was named for Elliott Bay, which was itself named for Midshipman Samuel Bonnyman Elliott (1822–1876), part of the United States Exploring Expedition, otherwise…

Renton Avenue S

This street is named after the city of Renton, Washington, located southeast of Seattle at the southern end of Lake Washington. The city was itself named after Captain William Renton (1818–1891). Born in Nova Scotia, he came to the Puget Sound area in the mid-1850s and founded the Port Blakely mill on Bainbridge Island in…