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About Lake City
Lake City is an informal borough or district of neighborhoods in the
northeast corner of Seattle, centered along Lake City Way NE (SR-522).
Emblematic of Lake City's earlier suburban history is the Jolly Roger
Restaurant.
Lake City is located between Interstate 5 or 15th Avenue NE and Lake Washington,
about 7 to 8 miles (11 to 13 km) northeast of Downtown and east of Northgate,
stretching from between NE 85th and 98th streets to the Seattle city limits at
NE 145th Street,[1] centered along its main northeast-southwest principal
arterial, Lake City Way NE (Washington State Route 522, commonly SR-522).
History
What is now Lake City has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial
period (c. 8,000 B.C.E.—10,000 years ago). The hah-chu-ahbsh (Lake People), now
of the Duwamish tribe, Lushootseed (Skagit-Nisqually) Coast Salish,[2] lived in
diffuse permanent settlements along the shore of Lake Washington, dispersing in
the summer, and in the winter living in large cedar long houses, each home to a
couple dozen or more members of extended family groups. The lake people lost
their rights in 1854. The Lake City area was clearcut by crude wagon road or by
using Lake Washington, from 1850 past the turn of the century, more rapidly with
the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad (c. 1886) providing easy access along
what is now the Burke-Gilman Trail adjacent to the lake. Wetlands were drained.
A Little Germany neighborhood of several immigrant farmers grew up in the 1870s
around where Nathan Hale High School now stands.[3]
The area was dubbed Lake City by D.H. and R.H. Lee in 1906 after they purchased
and platted the land. With the advent of the automobile, the area developed
linearly around major roads rather than centrally around trolley stops, as in
older Seattle neighborhoods. The road to Bothell and Everett was made
all-weather with brick in 1918 and then the new material asphalt in 1928. The
automobile relationship with Seattle would shape Lake City development and
neighborhood character. Lake City would remain relatively remote and suburban
from Seattle until years after WWII.
Transition to a neighborhood community was marked in 1935 with the start of the
Lake City Branch Library of today as a few shelves of books in part of a room in
Lake City School, shared with the WPA. Sponsorship was by the Pacific
Improvement Club community group. Lake City incorporated as a township in 1949
with more than 40,000 residents; rapid growth was a product of a massive influx
of young suburban families after World War II. The City of Seattle annexed Lake
City and other communities in 1954 when the city limits were expanded from 85th
Street to 145th Street.[4] Scout Troop 240 and other volunteers moved thousands
of books into a new library building in 1955.[5]
Lake City relies heavily on retail commerce, and business in the area has risen
and fallen based on highway expansion in the Seattle area. The expansion of
Aurora Avenue North to Everett, Washington cut into business in the 1920s, but
Lake City revived after NE 130th Street was paved. The opening of Northgate Mall
in 1950 reduced retail business in Lake City, and the area took another hit
after the construction of Interstate 5 in the 1960s. Renovation of the city core
along Lake City Way NE near NE 125th Street helped revive the local economy in
the late 1970s.[3]
Storied past
Emblematic of neighborhood history is that of the Jolly Roger Restaurant. In the
early days of Lake City, 1916 saw an upswing in commercial activity. That year,
Washington joined Prohibition. Unincorporated areas of King County accessible by
auto became popular locations for speakeasies selling illegal liquor and
purveying prostitution and gambling, often in clever guises. One remarkable
architecture among numerous establishments was that of the China Castle, later
the Jolly Roger, having a unique tower from which a watchman signaled the
approach of police, visible from miles away. In the event of a raid, patrons and
employees could leave via tunnels such as one under the highway, easily
dispersing via the wooded ravine on the other side.
The Jolly Roger continued as a popular dancehall and restaurant. It was
designated a Seattle Historic Landmark in 1979. On 19 October 1989, the
restaurant, located at 8721 Lake City Way (formerly Bothell Way) burned in an
arson fire. The fire was somewhat suspicious, but only relative to its storied
past.[3][6] Police had neither motive nor suspects. Investigators were not able
to determine how the arsonist got inside past a burglar alarm, with no signs of
forced entry. At the time, the building had just been purchased the week before
from the previous owner, with whom the buyer was entangled in legal and
financial red tape. The previous owner was in the building removing his
possessions the day before the fire. When firefighters arrived hours after the
fire had begun in the basement, a man directed them. He seemed so sure of where
the fire began that they assumed he was an employee. After the fire was
extinguished, the man could not be found. The owners stated that he was not an
employee.[7]
One year after the fire, preservation activists sought to have the structure
rebuilt. Before their efforts got off the ground, the building was hastily
demolished on 11 January 1991, obviating its appeal.[6] A modern oil
company-owned convenience store and gas station now stands on the location.
Within view, slightly south of the former Jolly Roger site, on the south side of
Lake City Way, Ying's Drive-In sits on the site of a former Coon Chicken Inn.
For nearly three decades, beginning in 1929, the Coon Chicken Inn sold
southern-style food in a restaurant whose themes drew heavily on light-hearted,
overtly racist stereotypes akin to blackface or the iconic Sambo's on Aurora
Avenue N.[8] During this entire era, Lake City (and many Seattle neighborhoods)
were securely White within neighborhood covenants. (See also Neighborhood
community clubs.)
Lake City today
The residential environment in Lake City has been enhanced with a long campaign
by citizens,[9] restoring Thornton Creek;[10] Lake City encompasses much of this
largest single watershed in Seattle.[11] See also Meadowbrook, Matthews Beach.
Neighborhoods in Lake City
* Cedar Park
* Matthews Beach
* Meadowbrook
* Olympic Hills
* Victory Heights