Wedgwood Community Council
Writes of Way ~ Seattle street names history
Gertie's Journey | A Journey of Mental Health Recovery
Description: Valarie's blog, exploring stories of Seattle neighborhoods
Those of us who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s in northeast Seattle lived in a world of shopping malls like University Village, fast food outlets like Taco Time, drive-ins like Burgermaster, and multiple gas stations which seemed to thrive in commercial districts. The block of NE 45th Street from 25th Ave NE eastward to Union Bay Place NE was like this. University Village Shopping Center opened in 1956, and to the east of it there were gas stations, a car wash, Taco Time and Burgermaster.
In February 1957, workers on the NE 45th Street Viaduct looked out over University Village and the Carnation Dairy plant. Seattle Municipal Archives item #54114, Engineering Dept., colorized photo.
Our 1950s-1960s memories of NE 45th Street are of the second phase in its development. Its first phase began in the 1920s when the site of University Village was farmland, and to the east was a gas station and a corner market. In a photo of the NE 45th Street Viaduct under construction in 1939, looking eastward, we see the farmland and a couple of gas stations and stores beyond it.
Wedgwood Community Council
Writes of Way ~ Seattle street names history
Gertie's Journey | A Journey of Mental Health Recovery