After the Civil War (1861-1865) war veterans began migrating westward, and some made their way to Seattle. George Boman from Tennessee arrived in Seattle in 1875 and became a real estate investor.
In Boman’s home state of Tennessee, during the Civil War some men enlisted to fight with the Union, and some enlisted with the Confederacy. Perhaps feeling that his life might be in danger because he had fought for the Union, Boman never went back home after the war. He went across the border to a Kentucky town which had been a Union stronghold. After a year or so he went to Nebraska where he exercised his right as a Union veteran, to a land claim.
Boman’s life fits the pattern of many Civil War veterans who heard of Seattle and thought there would be good opportunities to get in on the growth of the city. Boman invested in Seattle’s street railway system and was a member of the ship canal committee. His most profitable investments were in land, and he had very good timing of investing north of Lake Union. Boman moved to what is now Woodland Park Avenue, in 1883.
Boman’s land investment benefited from the nearby founding of Fremont in 1888. The boundary line of Fremont was at Albion Avenue. Boman’s property was just outside of that line, between Albion and what is now Stone Way. Boman had built a dock and the little steamers which plied Lake Union could let people off there, an ideal situation for a real estate promotor to meet clients.
After the Great Seattle Fire in June of 1889, land values soared and many more people moved out north of the city. At that time the areas north of Lake Union were outside of the Seattle city limits, so Fremont was founded with its own name, like a suburb.
In January 1890 Boman filed a land plat, indicating that he had house lots for sale. Plat filers give their plat a name and we see that the name Edge + Mont gave tribute to the neighborhoods on either side of the Boman’s property. To the left (west) was the Fremont neighborhood. To the right (east of Stone Way) was Edgewater. The name Boman Avenue was first given to what was later renamed Woodland Park Avenue North.
For more info:
Series of articles on the life of George Boman.