Capitol Hill is a densely populated residential district in Seattle, Washington, United States. One of the city’s most popular nightlife and entertainment districts, it is home to a historic gay village and vibrant counterculture community.
In the early 1900s, Capitol Hill was known as ‘Broadway Hill’ after the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare. The origin of its current name is disputed. James A. Moore, the real estate developer who platted much of the area, reportedly gave it the name hoping that the Washington State Capitol would move to Seattle, WA from Olympia. Another story claims that Moore named it after the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, his wife’s hometown. According to author Jacqueline Williams, both stories are likely true. The area was frequently referred to as Catholic Hill up until the 1980s due to its large Roman Catholic population.
Capitol Hill is home to some of Seattle’s wealthiest neighborhoods, including “Millionaire’s Row” along 14th Avenue E. south of Volunteer Park (family residences on tree-lined streets) and the Harvard-Belmont Landmark District. The neighborhood is home to many distinguished apartment houses, including several by Fred Anhalt and a few surviving Classical Revival complexes such as the Blackstone Apartments. The neighborhood’s architecture did not fare so well in the post-World War II period; architect Victor Steinbrueck wrote in 1962 of the “tremendous growth of less-than-luxury apartments” that at first “appear to be consistent with the clean, direct approach associated with contemporary architecture” but whose “open outdoor corridors” totally defeat their “large ‘view’ windows” by giving occupants no privacy if they leave their blinds open to enjoy the view. He added, “most tenants close their blinds and look for another apartment when their lease runs out.”
Culture
Capitol Hill is a bastion of musical culture in Seattle and is the neighborhood most closely associated with the grunge scene from the early 1990s. However, most of the best-known music venues of that era were located slightly outside the area. The music scene has transformed since those days, and now various genres (electronica, rock, punk, folk, salsa, hip hop, and trance) are represented.
The neighborhood figures prominently in nightlife and entertainment, with many bars hosting live music and numerous fringe theatres. Most of the Hill’s major thoroughfares are dotted with coffeehouses, taverns, and bars, and residences cover the gamut from modest motel-like studio apartment buildings to some of the city’s most historic mansions, with the two types sometimes shoulder-to-shoulder. Bed Bug Exterminator Seattle
Check out different neighborhoods like Delridge
