Fremont History Articles
Charles H. Baker: Land Investor of the Palatine Hills plat in Fremont
The Fremont neighborhood has a lively history which parallels the story of the City of Seattle’s growth and development. Just as in the beginnings of Seattle in what is now downtown, the earliest white settlers of Fremont were attracted by the availability of natural resources, most importantly water and timber. As Seattle grew, land investors hoped that a railroad would come through their property, which would increase the value.
Located just to the northwest of Lake Union,
The Ross and Fremont Post Offices
Some Seattle-area neighborhoods, like Bothell, were named for early settlers. With the arrival of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad in 1887, a railway station could give its name to the neighborhood.
Just north of Seattle’s Queen Anne hill, the Ross family had land claims on both sides of a stream called The Outlet, which flowed from Lake Union westward out to Puget Sound. The Ross family gave permission for the new railroad to come across their property and the railroad planners named a station in their honor.
A Tribute to Judie
We all need encouragers in our lives, someone to talk with, work with and pray with! Judie Clarridge, who died on June 27, 2025, was an encourager of many, and an enormous influence in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle.
Judie’s Christian faith-based life led her to serve in many aspects of the Fremont community, where she used her influence for good. Judie was an active member of Fremont Baptist Church and of local organizations including the Fremont Neighborhood Council,
Plats of Fremont
One of the ways to trace neighborhood history is by its land use, including plats of land laid out with streets and house lots. This map of the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle is marked with plats and their names.
The founding of Fremont in 1888 was in the area closest to the ship canal, although at that time it was only a small stream called The Outlet. The plat, which was named Denny &
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.
Fremont’s Streetcar Loading Platform
In 1927 a streetcar loading platform and cutoff route for cars was created at the intersection of Fremont Avenue North and North 34th Street. This intersection is familiar to us today as the site of the Waiting for the Interurban statue.
As car traffic increased in the 1920s it was found that when the city streetcar or the Interurban rail cars stopped to load passengers at North 34th Street, northbound auto traffic would back up onto the Fremont Bridge.
The Fremont Branch Library at 731 North 35th Street
The Fremont neighborhood is the site of many “firsts” in Seattle, and it was the first to have a branch library.
In the 1890s there was only one public library in Seattle, located downtown. Residents of the growing Fremont neighborhood set up a reading room with privately donated books and newspapers where anyone could come to sit and read. A Seattle Daily Times article of January 1900 told of the formation of a library committee headed by Sidney Elder,
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.
Fremont’s Northeast Corner: Porterfield’s Addition
Today the defined area of the Fremont neighborhood is bounded by 50th Street on the north, and Stone Way on the east. Fremont started in 1888 as a convenient streetcar neighborhood. Little stores sprang up at intersections of streetcar stops and transfer points, like this one at 4900 Stone Way.
Over time these streets have been expanded for car traffic and now are largely commercial areas. Today there is a Bamboo Village restaurant at this address,
