Queen Anne's Beginnings

After an exploration in December of 1852 to Smith Cove and then to what is now Salmon Bay, David T. Denny placed a claim on 320 acres in what is now lower Queen Anne, generally the area between today's Denny Way and Mercer St. from Elliott Bay to Lake Union. Married in January 1853 in his brother Arthur's cabin, David built his new wife Louisa a one-room log cabin on the bluff overlooking Elliott Bay, near the foot of Denny Way.

Built of nearby trees without a single nail, Louisa planted Sweetbrier roses outside the front door. The roses were found still there growing wild in 1931, when they were uprooted for a new commercial building on the site. Around 1860 the Dennys cleared an area near 2nd Ave. North and Republican Streets (now Seattle Center) for a farm, and built a new home, living in it until 1871.
In the Spring of 1853, Thomas Mercer settled on a land donation claim just north of David Denny's, an area roughly bounded by Lake Union on the east, Mercer St. on the south, and Queen Anne Ave. on the west, while Dr. Henry Smith settled in 1853 in western Queen Anne in the area that came to be known as Smith's Cove.

The Queen Anne name is derived from the 1880's when Rev. Daniel Bagley, an early Seattle settler, asked folks jokingly if they were 'going out to Queen Anne Town?'--for by that time, many homes in the area were in the Queen Anne style. Several still exist today, more than 100 years old.

Beginning in 1960 part of lower Queen Anne was reshaped into what became known as the Seattle World's Fair. The site is crowned with the Space Needle, arguably Seattle's most recognized landmark.

We invite you to visit our site and see a glimpse of Queen Anne and its history, from our registered landmarks to our cemetery--the final resting place for many Seattleites.

About the Society

The Society was formed in 1971 by the History Committee of the Queen Anne Community Council, and since that time has worked in many areas to advance its mission of preservation of the community's historic heritage. An independent non-profit organization, we maintain a community history archive and hold bimonthly meetings which feature programs emphasizing community and Washington history.

Click here for a thumbnail history of Queen Anne, courtesy of Historylink. Or click here to view a short video on Queen Anne, courtesy of Historylink and the Seattle Channel.

“[H]istory is just one damned thing after another. ”

— Arnold Toynbee