Fremont History Articles
Fremont’s Pocket Desert
In Fremont, our neighborhood known for its eccentricity, a small mystery has been hiding in plain sight. The Fremont Neighbor blog has written the following inquiry:
“On the grounds of what is now the Fremont Foundry event venue, 154 North 35th Street, sits a modest postcard-sized plaque reading simply “Fremont Pocket Desert.” No one seems to know its origin story.
The plaque’s location is particularly intriguing given the property’s colorful history.
3400 Phinney Avenue North: the original trolley car barn
The red-brick trolley car barn in Fremont was built in 1905 as a home base for the five lines which traveled around the Fremont, Ballard, Phinney, and Greenlake areas. The parking area had pits below, used by mechanics who repaired the underworking of the cars. On the east side of the building was a yard with a wash tower for cleaning the cars.
The building was the first major streetcar service facility to be built in north Seattle,
The Fremont Neighborhood in Seattle is Founded in 1888
Each neighborhood of Seattle proudly waves the banner of its unique name, and yet many were named in a similar way: by real estate investors. Fremont in Seattle was also named by real estate investors. What made the Seattle neighborhood called Fremont stand out from others, was its good location, its jump-start after Seattle’s Great Fire of 1889, and its vigorous developers who utilized the growing streetcar system to advantage.
House History: 1109 North 47th Street
This house was built in 1909 for an estimated construction cost of $1,350, according to the building permit. The builder was Albert J. Carr, a contractor who lived in Wallingford. He was known for building houses throughout the University District, Wallingford and Fremont neighborhoods.
The house is a “plan book” design in Craftsman Bungalow style. The plan-book house could be built by a contractor without the use of an architect, and the construction was done by skilled craftsmen such as carpenters,
House History: 617 North 47th Street
This house is an outstanding and well-preserved early example of a Craftsman Bungalow cottage constructed by Jud Yoho. It was built in 1910 as the home of Fred J. Kerr, a real estate developer, who had his office at 4228 Fremont Avenue.
Known as “The Bungalow Craftsman” Jud Yoho (b.1882) is considered to have been Seattle’s most active and market-oriented bungalow entrepreneur. He was the owner of the Craftsman Bungalow Company and the Take-Down Manufacturing Company, …Read More
