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About First Hill
First Hill is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, named for the hill on
which it is located. The hill, in turn, is so named for being the first hill one
encounters traveling east from downtown Seattle toward Lake Washington. First
Hill is bounded on the west by Interstate 5, beyond which is Downtown, on the
north by E. Pike and E. Madison Streets, beyond which is Capitol Hill, and on
the south by E. Yesler Way, beyond which is the International District. Its
eastern limit, beyond which is the Central District, is indeterminate, but has
been said to lie anywhere from 12th to 18th Avenues. (The area between 12th and
20th Avenues is also known as Squire Park.)
First Hill rose to popularity in the 1890s as a location close enough to
downtown for convenience, but far enough out to offer a sense of retreat for the
wealthier residents of Seattle. Among the elite to live on First Hill at that
time were Indian fighter turned wealthy businessman Granville O. Haller, local
judge Cornelius Hanford, successful meatpacker Charles Frye (whose private art
collection is now open to the public at First Hill's Frye Art Museum),
contractor Morgan Carkeek (for whom Carkeek Park is named) and William Boeing,
founder of the Boeing Company. Noted photographer Imogen Cunningham and her
husband Roi Partridge lived on First Hill in a boarding house in the 1910s until
the residents of the house were evicted and the property converted into a
hospital. More recently, local philanthropist and businesswoman Patsy Collins
resided in a First Hill condominium.
The first official King County Courthouse was built on First Hill in 1889-1890;
the steep climb to the courthouse from downtown legal offices caused such
frequent and vociferous complaints that Seattle lawyers nicknamed the area
"Profanity Hill." The courthouse, constructed on the corner of 7th Avenue and
Alder Street, was quickly outgrown, which, along with the loud dissatisfaction
of local attorneys, led the county to move the courthouse off First Hill in
1916.
The hill is also known as "Pill Hill" because, in addition to being the current
home of three major health care facilities (Harborview Medical Center, Swedish
Medical Center/First Hill, and Virginia Mason Medical Center (four if Swedish
Medical Center/Providence, located on 16th Avenue, is included in the
neighborhood), as well as the Puget Sound Blood Center, it was also once the
location of the Maynard, Seattle General, and Doctors Hospitals (all of which
merged into Swedish) as well as Cabrini Hospital.
First Hill has been home to Seattle University, a private Jesuit university,
since 1898. Also located on the hill are Northwest School and Seattle Academy of
Arts and Sciences--two highly regarded private schools--and the Catholic O'Dea
High School, as well as several churches that have become city landmarks:
Trinity Episcopal Parish Church, St. James Cathedral, and Seattle First Baptist
Church.
First Hill's major thoroughfares, assuming its greatest possible extent (see
above), include Madison, James, Cherry, and Jefferson Streets and Yesler Way
(east- and west-bound) and 9th, Boren, 12th, and 14th Avenues and Broadway
(north- and south-bound).