South Park, Seattle

Last updated
South Park, Seattle
Duwamish River at South Park.jpg
Duwamish Waterway at South Park (2007). South Park is on the left. View from South Park Bridge.
Seattle - South Park map.jpg
South Park Map
Coordinates: 47°31′49″N122°19′26″W / 47.53028°N 122.32389°W / 47.53028; -122.32389
CountryUnited States
State Washington
County King
City Seattle
Zip Code
98108
Area Code 206

South Park is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. It is located just south of Georgetown across the Duwamish River, and just north of the city of Tukwila. Its main thoroughfares are West Marginal Way S. (northwest- and southeast-bound), S. Cloverdale Street (east- and westbound) and 14th Ave. S (north-and-south). South Park connects to Georgetown by two bridges at 1st Ave S. at the northmost end of the neighborhood, and the South Park Bridge at the north end of 14th Ave. South.

Contents

Surrounded by Seattle's industrial area, South Park's soil and air have been polluted; heavy metals have contaminated the top soil and the nearby Duwamish River has been known for unhealthy levels of toxic chemicals. [1] The property values are lower than elsewhere in Seattle, though some see growth potential in the area. [2] [3] The neighborhood is also home to a large Hispanic community with a population that of 4,154 that is roughly 47% Latino, thus giving it the highest concentration of Hispanic residents in the city. [4] [ better source needed ]

Former town

Newell Mill, South Park's leading business in 1900. Seattle - Newell Mill - 1900.jpg
Newell Mill, South Park's leading business in 1900.

The Town of South Park was incorporated December 9, 1902 and the Town Council held its first meeting on December 23. South Park was served by three mayors in its four-and-one-half years of existence as an independent town: S. J. Bevan (1902–1903), G. C. Lingenfelter (1903–1905), and A. G. Breidenstein (1906–1907).

South Park was plagued by problems in securing adequate city services. Particularly vexing was the inability to obtain a decent water supply. Although the city of Georgetown owned water mains that ran through South Park, it refused to supply water to the latter, starting a bitter court battle over legal rights to the water. In 1905–1906, the town contracted with an independent water company, but in April 1906 the water was found to be contaminated because South Park did not have a sewer system. The Town Council petitioned Seattle to run Cedar River mains to the edge of the town and has had clean water since. The City of Seattle provides sewage services in modern South Park.

In October 1906, the electorate voted 131–59 for annexation to Seattle, but apparently no action was taken beyond the vote. On March 23, 1907, a second vote for annexation was 181–36 in favor and on May 3, 1907, South Park became part of the City of Seattle. [6]

Past and present bridges

New South Park Bridge in 2022 New South Park Bridge from west in 2022 - Seattle, WA.jpg
New South Park Bridge in 2022

Prior to the straightening of the Duwamish River for the Duwamish Waterway, South Park was connected to Georgetown by an electric railway that crossed a north–south bridge at 8th Avenue and by an east–west road bridge on County Road a few blocks northeast of that. A bend in the river resulted in the South Park side of that road bridge actually being the east end, with the Georgetown side on the west. [7]

After the Duwamish was straightened, a new bridge was built at 8th Avenue (now 8th Avenue South), and operated from 1914 to 1937. [8]

The present South Park Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge constructed in 2011–2014. It connects 16th Avenue S. in Georgetown to 14th Avenue S. in South Park. It replaced a bridge built in 1929–31 that had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places but was found to be in very poor condition by the 2000s. [9] The new bridge opened to the public on June 30, 2014. [10]

Just west of the bridge in South Park is a section of brick road that once led to an earlier bridge on more or less the same site. This brick road—one of the few remaining in Seattle—constitutes the northernmost portion of a road that once led from South Park to Des Moines, Washington; eight blocks south of the Duwamish, today's Des Moines Memorial Drive branches off of 14th Avenue S. leading uphill into unincorporated King County, the area commonly referred to as Boulevard Park.

Cesar Chavez Park

Preparing the horses for the Fiestas Patrias parade in South Park, 2015 Fiestas Patrias Parade, South Park, Seattle, 2015 - preparing the horses - pano 01 (21539680412).jpg
Preparing the horses for the Fiestas Patrias parade in South Park, 2015

The neighborhood is home to Cesar Chavez Park. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duwamish River</span> River in Washington, United States

The Duwamish River is the name of the lower 12 miles (19 km) of Washington state's Green River. Its industrialized estuary is known as the Duwamish Waterway. In 2009, the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center was opened on the west bank of the river as part of the tribe's reassertion of its historic rights in the area and its continuing struggle for federal recognition of tribal status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University District, Seattle</span> Seattle Neighborhood

The University District is a major district in Seattle, Washington, comprising several distinct neighborhoods. The main campus of the University of Washington (UW) is located in the district, lending its name to both the district as well as University Way NE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alki Point, Seattle</span> Seattle Neighborhood in Washington, United States

Alki Point is a point jutting into Puget Sound, the westernmost landform in the West Seattle district of Seattle, Washington. Alki is the peninsular neighborhood on Alki Point. Alki was the original settlement in what was to become the city of Seattle. It was part of the city of West Seattle from 1902 until that city's annexation by Seattle in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street layout of Seattle</span>

The street layout of Seattle is based on a series of disjointed rectangular street grids. Most of Seattle and King County use a single street grid, oriented on true north. Near the center of the city, various land claims were platted in the 19th century with differently oriented grids, which still survive today. Distinctly oriented grids also exist in some cities annexed by Seattle in the early 20th century, such as Ballard and Georgetown. A small number of streets and roads are exceptions to the grid pattern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Seattle</span> Neighborhood between the Duwamish River and Puget Sound

West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an independent town in 1902 before being annexed by Seattle five years later. Among the area's attractions are its saltwater beach parks along Elliott Bay and Puget Sound, including Alki Beach Park and Lincoln Park. The area is also known for its views of the Olympic Mountains to the west and the Cascade Range to the east. One-third of Seattle's green space and urban forest is located in West Seattle, much of it in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northgate, Seattle</span> Seattle Neighborhood in King, Washington, United States

Northgate is a neighborhood in north Seattle, Washington, named for and surrounding Northgate Mall, the first covered mall in the United States. Its north-south principal arterials are Roosevelt Way NE and Aurora Avenue N, and its east-west principal arterials are NE Northgate Way and 130th Street. Minor arterials are College Way-Meridian Avenue N, 1st, 5th, and 15th avenues NE. Interstate 5 runs through the district. Besides the eponymous mall, the most characteristic distinctions of the area are North Seattle College (NSC) and the south fork of the Thornton Creek watershed and Seattle Kraken Iceplex center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial District, Seattle</span> Seattle Neighborhood in King, Washington, United States

The Industrial District is the principal industrial area of Seattle, Washington. It is bounded on the west by the Duwamish River and Elliott Bay, beyond which lies Delridge of West Seattle; on the east by Interstate 5, beyond which lies Beacon Hill; on the north by S King and S Dearborn Streets, beyond which lie Pioneer Square and southwest International District of Downtown; and on the south by the main lines of the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad, or about S Lucille Street, beyond which is Georgetown. SoDo is the name of the northwest portion of the neighborhood, named for its being South of Downtown. SoDo is the location of T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, and Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC. Lumen Field was also the site of the former Kingdome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravenna, Seattle</span> Seattle neighborhood

Ravenna is a neighborhood in northeastern Seattle, Washington named after Ravenna, Italy. Though Ravenna is considered a residential neighborhood, it also is home to several businesses, many of which are located in the University Village, a shopping mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgetown, Seattle</span> Neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, US

Georgetown is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is bounded on the north by the mainlines of the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad, beyond which is the Industrial District; on the west by the Duwamish River, across which is South Park; on the east by Interstate 5, beyond which is Beacon Hill; and on the south by Boeing Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Lake Union, Seattle</span> Neighborhood of Seattle

South Lake Union is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delridge, Seattle</span>

Delridge is a district in Seattle, Washington, United States that stretches along Delridge Way, an arterial that follows the eastern slope of the valley of Longfellow Creek, from near its source just within the southern city limits north to the West Seattle Bridge over the Duwamish River. It is generally associated with the neighborhing district of West Seattle, or even considered a sub-district of West Seattle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainier Beach, Seattle</span> Neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Rainier Beach is a set of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington that are mostly residential. Also called Atlantic City, Rainier Beach can include Dunlap, Pritchard Island, and Rainier View neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Avenue South Bridge</span> Highway drawbridge in Seattle, Washington, United States

The First Avenue South Bridge is a pair of double-leaf bascule bridges built between 1956 and 1998 that carry State Route 99 over the Duwamish River about three miles (5 km) south of downtown Seattle, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Park Bridge</span> Drawbridge in Seattle, Washington, United States

The South Park Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge in Seattle, Washington, United States. Opened in 2014, the current bridge replaced a 1931 bascule bridge that carried the same name and had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge is operated by the King County government. It carries automobile traffic over the Duwamish River near Boeing Field, just outside the city limits of Seattle, and is named for the nearby South Park neighborhood of Seattle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regrading in Seattle</span> Infrastructure projects in Seattle

The topography of central Seattle was radically altered by a series of regrades in the city's first century of urban settlement, in what might have been the largest such alteration of urban terrain at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Waterfront, Seattle</span> Neighborhood in Seattle

The Central Waterfront of Seattle, Washington, United States, is the most urbanized portion of the Elliott Bay shore. It runs from the Pioneer Square shore roughly northwest past Downtown Seattle and Belltown, ending at the Broad Street site of the Olympic Sculpture Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoreline street ends in Seattle</span>

In 1996, the city of Seattle, Washington adopted a resolution to preserve shoreline street ends throughout the city as public rights-of-way, to allow improvements for public uses and access. This resolution gave a broad outline of considerations that would apply to public access improvements to shoreline street ends and to removing private encroachments and severely limiting future permits for private uses of street ends. Three years later, this was enhanced with a statement, "Fees for use of shoreline street ends may take into consideration City policy of discouraging encroachments inconsistent with the public right of access to shorelines and may be included in the schedule of fees for use of public places under the jurisdiction of Seattle Transportation."

References

  1. Eric Pryne, "South Park – 'We're Seattle's Dumping Ground'", Seattle Times, February 24, 1994. Accessed online 3 December 2007.
  2. A neighborhood on the upswing, Seattle Post-Intelligencer "Webtowns" series (online neighborhood profiles). Accessed online 3 December 2007.
  3. Seely, Mike (April 12, 2019). "For a Seattle Enclave, Isolation May Be Its Salvation". The New York Times . Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  4. Lower Duwamish Waterway Site, Seattle, Washington: Hispanic Community Involvement Supplement, Environmental Protection Agency, September 2002, p. 2. Lumps South Park with the neighboring, much less Hispanic, Georgetown and gives a combined South Park/Georgetown population of 4900, which it characterizes as 32% Hispanic. Accessed online 2015-09-22
  5. David Wilma, Seattle Neighborhoods: South Park – Thumbnail History, HistoryLink essay number 2985, February 16, 2001. Accessed online 3 December 2007.
  6. Guide to the Town of South Park Records 1902–1907, Northwest Digital Archives, Washington State University. Accessed online 3 December 2007.
  7. Key map, Sanborn Map Co. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington, Volume I, Sanborn Map Co., New York, (1904). The relevant portion of the map can be seen at Commons:File:Seattle - Sanborn 1904 - Georgetown & South Park map - 1904.jpg.
  8. Informational sign at Eighth Avenue South/South Park Public Shoreline Access, Port of Seattle. Consulted 2009-04-26.
  9. SOUTH PARK BRIDGE PROJECT Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Section 4(f) Evaluation EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Archived 2010-08-05 at the Wayback Machine , U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, Washington State Department of Transportation, and King County Department of Transportation, September 2005, p. S-1 (p. 9 of PDF). Accessed online 2009-04-28.
  10. "South Park Bridge". King County Transportation. King County. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  11. "Cesar Chavez Park". www.seattle.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-31.