I had the good fortune to meet him back when I was the “Seattle History Examiner,” working on the U District Museum Without Walls, and writing my book. He encouraged my love of writing about history. I will forever be grateful. May his memory be for a blessing. www.writesofway.org/paul-dorpat-...

Cesar Chavez Park no longer has a name, though a new one is in the process of being chosen. FWIW, city policy prohibits naming parks after living people such as Dolores Huerta -- Chavez died four years before the park was given his name. www.writesofway.org/cesar-chavez...

This Rainier Valley street, created in 1931, was named after Camano Island in Puget Sound. www.writesofway.org/s-camano-pla...

This West Seattle street (more of an alley, really), which was created in 1946, resurrects the name of an earlier neighborhood street named for real estate man Louis Ayers Parshall (1870–1950). www.writesofway.org/parshall-pla...

This street was created in 1920 as part of the Homecroft plat, Seattle's contribution to the movement which “encouraged wageworkers to become competent backyard gardeners rather than yeoman farmers.” (It ended up becoming just another residential neighborhood.) www.writesofway.org/croft-place-...

This short Montlake street was created in 1925 as part of the plat of Glenwilde, an Addition to the City of Seattle, filed by E.F. Barnum and his wife, Sarah Barnum, and named for that subdivision. www.writesofway.org/glenwilde-pl...

This street was created in 1955 as part of the plat of Lowrain Park, filed by Adlai Lorain Wood (1891–1981) and Jack Earl Wood (1919–1995), his son. My guess is they named the street after themselves, the subdivision being in the southeasternmost part of the city. www.writesofway.org/s-eastwood-d...

This street was created in 1919 as part of the plat of the Loch-Gilvra Addition to the City of Seattle, filed by the executors of the estate of John J. McGilvra (1827–1903). He and his wife were the first settlers in what is now Madison Park, in the mid-1860s. www.writesofway.org/e-mcgilvra-s...

This Wallingford street was created in 1907 as part of Tronstad’s Addition, filed by Norwegian immigrants Nils and Bertha Tronstad and another couple. It appears to have been named after the Tronstads’ first child and only son, Menford Tronstad (1904–2001). www.writesofway.org/n-menford-pl...

Thanks to Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, the Insurrection Act of 1807 has been in the news lately. Today I learned that, of the 30 times the act has been invoked, two of them were in Seattle — 3 months apart — thanks to anti-Chinese rioting in 1885 and 1886. www.writesofway.org/insurrection...

Sorry, but it's always going to be Sea-Tac to me @portofseattle.bsky.social 😉https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1GXPJzcV9K/

S Raymond Street was named by and for Herbert R. (1862–1933) and Minnie M. Raymond (1874–1947). His obituary described Herbert as "formerly one of the Pacific Northwest’s prominent shoe merchants and leading civic spirits." www.writesofway.org/s-raymond-st... www.writesofway.org/s-raymond-pl...

Before the first 🇪🇸Barcelona Superblock... Before the first 🇬🇧London LTN... Before the 🇳🇱Groningen circulation plan... 🇺🇸Seattle built the Stevens Neighborhood Traffic Diversion Demonstration Project. LET'S REVIVE THIS IDEA FOR A 21ST CENTURY SEATTLE

Happy 2026, everyone. youtu.be/SrXswIbWA7Y?...

New articles on E Olive Lane, E Olive Place, and E Olive Street, all named after Olive Julia Bell Stewart (1846–1921), who was 5 when the Denny Party landed at Alki Point in 1851. www.writesofway.org/e-olive-lane/ www.writesofway.org/e-olive-place/ www.writesofway.org/e-olive-stre...

Triton Drive NW, a North Beach street with a view of Puget Sound, was likely named after Triton, son of Neptune, Roman god of the sea. NW Neptune Place is nearby. www.writesofway.org/triton-drive...

This is huge news regarding Talaris in Laurelhurst www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

This street was established in 1926 as part of North Beach, an Addition to the City of Seattle, and has excellent views of Puget Sound. I assume Neptune being the Roman god of the sea was the inspiration behind the name. www.writesofway.org/nw-neptune-p...

a curiosity search led me to a website by @lukobe.bsky.social which appears to be dedicated to the impossibly nerd-friendly matter of seattle street names www.writesofway.org/diagonal-ave...

it might be time for a renaming

show, don't tell

This street was created in 1926 as part of the Replat of a Portion of Blocks 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of North Beach, an Addition to the City of Seattle. I presume it was named for the neighborhood’s view of Puget Sound (“mar”) and the Olympic Mountains (“mount”). www.writesofway.org/marmount-dri...

Like Loyal Avenue NW, this street was named by Edward B. Cox, Harry Whitney Treat, and Olive Marion Graef Treat in the 1907 plat of Loyal Heights. The streets and the subdivision were named after Loyal Graef Treat Nichols (1906–2004), the Treats’ newborn daughter. www.writesofway.org/loyal-way-nw/

This street was named as part of the 1907 plat of Loyal Heights. Then, as now, the lots abutted a wooded (“sylvan”) area surrounding an unnamed creek that begins just north of NW 87th Street and flows to Puget Sound at North Beach. www.writesofway.org/sylvan-place...

Originally published on Crosscut.com in 2011, an article on Dave Niehaus Way S -- the honorary designation of 1st Avenue S as it runs alongside T-Mobile Park. www.writesofway.org/dave-niehaus...

More information on the closure, namesake, and history of the Seattle BNSF Railway facility Balmer Yard www.writesofway.org/balmer-yard/

This short Madrona street, formerly an unnamed alley, was named in 1923 for E Howell Street, itself named for Jefferson Davis Howell (1846–1875). www.writesofway.org/howell-place/

This street was named for its view from Beacon Hill, not of Beacon Hill. www.writesofway.org/vista-avenue...

This University District street, built sometime between 2002 and 2005, received its name in 2016 as part of a bill to improve emergency wayfinding. It was named, of course, for Eastlake Avenue NE (the University Bridge), in whose right-of-way it was built. www.writesofway.org/eastlake-pla...

This Queen Anne street was established in 1923 as Lee Place and received its current name in 1924. It was likely named for the Queen Anne Standpipes, a pair of water towers nearby that were built in 1900 and 1901 and served the neighborhood until 2007. https://www.writesofway.org/tower-place/

This street was created in 1977 to connect the proposed NOAA Western Regional Center to Sand Point Way NE. NOAA stands for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which took over the northern portion of the old Sand Point Naval Air Station. https://www.writesofway.org/ne-noaa-drive/

#OnThisDay in 1891, Chevra Bikur Cholim incorporated in Seattle. https://historylink.org/File/99

Like Heights Avenue SW, this West Seattle street was created in 1924 as part of the plat of Hunnel Heights, an Addition to the City of Seattle. https://www.writesofway.org/heights-place-sw/

This West Seattle street was created in 1924 as part of the plat of Hunnel Heights, named for James (1857–1925) and Mamie Hummel (1868–1951). Why it wasn't Hunnel Avenue instead, I'm not sure. https://www.writesofway.org/heights-avenue-sw/

This West Seattle street, created in 1909 as part of the Replat of Blocks 2, 5, and 6, Lincoln Beach Park, was named for developer Carlisle Gatewood (1860–1947), after whom Gatewood Elementary School and the Gatewood neighborhood itself are also named. www.writesofway.org/gatewood-roa...

Hi! I’m Benjamin Lukoff, a local historian born, raised, and living in Seattle. Writes of Way tells the stories behind the names of Seattle’s streets. writesofway.org/about #NameStudies #names #onomastics #LocalHistory #LocalHistorians #Seattle #names #streets #StreetNames #cities #history