Queen Anne is a neighborhood and geographic feature in Seattle, Washington, United States, located northwest of downtown. The affluent area read sits on the eponymous hill, whose maximum elevation is 456 feet (139 m), making it Seattle’s highest named hill. Queen Anne covers an area of 7.3 square kilometers (2.8 sq mi) with a population of about 28,000. It is bordered by Belltown to the south, Lake Union to the east, the Lake Washington Ship Canal to the north, and Interbay to the west. The hill became a popular spot for the city’s early economic and cultural elite to build their mansions. Its name is derived from the architectural style in which many early homes were built.
Queen Anne is bounded on the north by the Fremont Cut of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, beyond which is Fremont; on the west by 15th and Elliott Avenues West, beyond which is Interbay, Magnolia, and Elliott Bay; on the east by Lake Union and Aurora Avenue North, beyond which is Westlake. As a neighborhood toponym, Queen Anne may include Lower Queen Anne, also known as Uptown, the area at the southern base of the hill, just north and west of Seattle Center. Whether or not Lower Queen Anne is considered a separate neighborhood matters in setting Queen Anne’s southern boundary, either West Mercer Street or Denny Way.
Queen Anne can be reached from Interstate 5 via the Mercer Street Exit (Exit 167). The neighborhood’s main thoroughfares are Gilman Drive West, 3rd Avenue West, Queen Anne Avenue North, Boston Street, and a set of streets, collectively known as Queen Anne Boulevard, that loop around the crown of the hill and reflect a comprehensive boulevard design in the style of the Olmsted Brothers architectural firm. The plan was never fully executed, but it remains part of the Seattle Parks System.
Significant Events
The Vashon Glacier carved Queen Anne Hill’s topography more than 13,000 years ago, and human habitation in the area began some 3000 years ago. When white settlers arrived in the mid-19th century, the Duwamish tribe maintained a seasonal presence in and around Queen Anne. Bed Bug Exterminator Seattle
Landmarks
Queen Anne is home to 29 official Seattle landmarks, including 12 historic houses. A group of residences on 14th Avenue West, built between 1890 and 1910, include one of the few remaining Queen Anne-style houses on the hill. The North Queen Anne Drive Bridge, built in 1936 across Wolf Creek, is a parabolic steel arch bridge declared a historic landmark for its unique engineering style. One of the oldest wooden-hulled tugboats still afloat, the Arthur Foss, is moored near the base of Queen Anne. Queen Anne Boulevard, which circles the crown of the hill, and some of the original retaining walls complete with decorative brickwork, balustrades, and street lights, are also designated landmarks. Although not located at Queen Anne and no longer located west of present-day Seattle, WA Center, the Denny Cabin was built by David Denny in 1889 as a real-estate office and was made from trees cut down on Queen Anne Hill.
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