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SEATTLE
INSET: SEATTLE - CENTRAL AREA
INSET: SEATTLE - EVERETT INTERURBAN
I created the above maps by overlaying OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps with my own data. Copyright on the OSM maps is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under a CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence).
Please note that the OSM maps used as templates for these maps correspond to the situation at the time the maps were downloaded and may show features that did not exist at the time the GS Tram Site is supposed to show. In particular, they may show bridges and highways that were built later.
ROUTES
STREETCAR ROUTES
Operator: Seattle Municipal Street Railway
| 1 | Alki / Fort Lawton | Fort Lawton - Gilman Av. - 15th Av. W - Elliott Av. W - 1st Av. - Spokane St. - Harbor Av. - Alki Av. - 63rd Av. SW - Beach Dr. & Orleans St. |
| 2 | Fauntleroy | Virginia St. S - 2nd Av. - Pine St. - 1st Av. - Spokane St. - Avalon Way - California Av. - Fauntleroy Av. - Fauntleroy Pl. [Back: as above to Jackson St., then continue as 24] |
| 3 | West Seattle | Virginia St. S - 2nd Av. - Pine St. - 1st Av. - Spokane St. - Avalon Way - California Av. - W Atlantic St. [Back: as above to Jackson St., then continue as 25] |
| 4 | Fauntleroy | Virginia St. S - 2nd Av. - Pine St. - 1st Av. - Spokane St. - W Marginal Way - 9th Av. SW - White Center [Back: as above to Jackson St., then continue as 24] |
| 4s | Seahurst Shuttle | White Center - Seahurst - Lake Burien |
| 5 | South Park | Yesler Way. - 1st Av. - E Marginal Way - 8th Av. S - - Cloverdale St. - 14th Av. S [Back: as above, then continue as 30] |
| 6 | South Seattle | 3rd Av. & Yesler Way. - 9th Av. S - 8th Av. S - Carleton Av. - E Marginal Way [Back: as above, then continue as 23] |
| 7 | Kinnear Park | Jackson St. - 1st Av. - Queen Anne Av. - Olympic Pl. - 10th Av. W - W Wheeler St. |
| 8 | Madrona | 3rd Av. & Union St. - Pike St. - Union St. - 34th Av. - Madrona Dr. - Madrona Park |
| 9 | 19th Av. & 26th S | S Judkins St. - 26th Av. S - Jackson St. - 3rd Av. - Pike St. - E Madison St. - 19th Av. N - E Galer St. |
| 10 | Montlake | 3rd Av. & Union St. - Pike St. - E Madison St. - 23rd Av. N - 24th Av. N - University of Washington |
| 11 | E Cherry | 3rd Av. & Union St. - Pike St. - Broadway - E Jefferson St. - E Cherry St. - 34th Av. - Union St. |
| 12 | E Madison - Jefferson Park | Madison Park - E Madison St. - Pike St. - 3rd Av. - Jackson St. - Beacon Av. - S Graham St. |
| 13 | Summit Ave. | Belleview Ct. - Belleview Av. [back: Summit Av.] - Pine St. - 2nd Av. - Jackson St. |
| 14 | Capitol Hill - Mt.Baker | E Galer St. - 15th Ave. N - [E Mercer St. - 14th Av. N] [back: 15th Av.] - Pine St. - 3rd Av. - Jackson St. - 31st Av. S - Mt Baker |
| 15 | Broadway | 3rd Av. & Union St. - [3rd Av. - Pine St.] [back: Melrose Av. - Pike St. - 8th Av. - Union St.] - Pine St. - Broadway - 10th Av. - University of Washington |
| 16 | Ravenna | 4th Av. & Main St. - 3rd Av. - Union St. - 8th Av. - Howell St. - Eastlake Av. - University of Washington - University Way - E 55th St. - 35th Av. NE |
| 17 | Cowen Park - 15th Av. NE | 4th Av. & Main St. - 3rd Av. - Union St. - 8th Av. - Howell St. - Eastlake Av. - University of Washington - University Way - 15th Av. NE - E 80th St. |
| 18 | Wallingford | Jackson St. - 2nd Av. - Pine St. - Westlake Av. - Fremont Br. - N 34th St. - Wallingford Av. - N 45th St. - University of Washington |
| 20 | Green Lake | Jackson St. - 2nd Av. - Virginia St. S - Westlake Av. - Fremont Br. - N 34th St. - Woodland Park Av. - Loop around Green Lake - back the same way |
| 21 | Phinney | Jackson St. - 2nd Av. - Pine St. - Westlake Av. - Fremont Br. - Fremont Av. - Phinney Av. (Woodland Park Zoo) - Greenwood Av. - 85th St. |
| 22 | Meridian | Jackson St. - 2nd Av. - Pine St. - Westlake Av. - Fremont Br. - N 34th St. - Wallingford Av. - N 45th St. - Meridian Av. - E 56th St. - Latona Av. - NE 56th St. |
| 23 | Fremont-Ballard | Yesler Way. - 3rd Av. - Cedar St. - 5th Av. N - Broad St. - Dexter Av. - Fremont Br. - Leary Av. - Ballard Way - 24th Av. NW - W 70th St. [Back: as above, then continue as 6] |
| 24 | White Center | Jackson St. - 2nd Av. - Cedar St. - 5th Av. N - Taylor Av. - Boston St. - Queen Anne Av. - W McGraw St. - 7th Av. W - Raye St. [Back: as above to 2nd Av. & Virginia St., then continue as 2] |
| 25 | E Queen Anne | Jackson St. - 2nd Av. - Cedar St. - 5th Av. N - Taylor Av. - Boston St. - Queen Anne Av. - Blaine St. - 2nd Av. N - Galer St. [Back: as above to 2nd Av. & Virginia St., then continue as 3] |
| 26 | W Queen Anne | S King St. - 1st Av. - Queen Anne Av. - Galer St. - 6th Av. W - W McGraw St. |
| 27 | 15th Av. NW | Yesler Way. - 1st Av. - Elliott Av. W - 15th Av. W - 15th Av. NW - 85th St. |
| 28 | Ballard - 20th NW | Yesler Way. - 1st Av. - Cedar St. - 5th Av. N - Broad St. - Dexter Av. - Nickerson St. - 15th Av. W - Ballard Way - 24th Av. NW - W 67th St. - 28th Av. NW - 32nd Av. W & 85th St. |
| 30 | Sunset Hill | Yesler Way. - 1st Av. - Elliott Av. W - 15th Av. W - Ballard Way - 24th Av. NW - W 59th St. - 32nd Av. W - W 64th St. - 36th Av. NW [Back: as above, then continue as 5] |
CABLE CAR ROUTES
Operator: Seattle Municipal Street Railway
| FS | Front Street | S King St. - 1st Ave. - Queen Anne Av. - Highland Dr. |
| JS | James Street | 2nd Ave. - James St. - Broadway |
| MS | Madison Street | Waterfront - Madison St. - 14th Av. |
| YW | Yesler Way | 3rd Av. - Yesler Way - Lake Washington |
NB: The two-letter route designations above are for the convenience of readers, and were not used by the operator.
INTERURBAN ROUTE
Operator: Pacific Northwest Traction Company
| Seattle-Everett | Downtown Seattle - Westlake Av. - Fremont Br. - Fremont Av. - Phinney Av. (Woodland Park Zoo) - Greenwood Av. - 85th St. - Aurora Av. - Greenwood - Esperance - Martha Lake - Silver Lake - Everett |
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM
NETWORK LENGTH
- Seattle streetcars: 185 km.
- Seattle cable cars: ? km.
- Seattle-Everett interurban: 48 km.
HISTORY
- Horse-trams:
- Seattle: 1884 - 1889
- Tacoma: 1888 - ?;
- Cable cars: 27 Sept. 1888 - 2 Sept. 1940 (some were steam-operated initially, but all became electric after 3 June 1912)
- Streetcars (electric):
- Seattle: 30 March 1889 - 13 Apr. 1941; 12 Dec. 2007 - today
- Tacoma: - 8 Apr. 1938
- Waterfront (tourist) streetcar: 29 May 1982 - 19 Nov. 2005
- Interurbans (electric):
- Seattle-Everett Interurban: 1907 - 1919 (sold to Seattle Electric, later, Pacific NW Traction Southern Division, service until 20 Feb. 1939)
- Everett-Snohomish Interurban: 1 Dec. 1903 - 1921
- Bellingham & Skagit Interurban (later, Pacific NW Traction Northern Division): 1 Sept. 1912 - 1 June 1930
- Seattle-Tacoma Interurban: 25 Sept. 1902 - 1928
- Light rail:
- Seattle: 18 July 2009 - today
- Tacoma: 22 Aug. 2003 - today
- Monorail: 24 March 1962 - today
GAUGE
- Light rail / Streetcars (1st & 2nd generation) / Tourist streetcar: 1435 mm.
- Cable cars: 1067 mm. (except for the Front Street line: 1435 mm.)
SOURCES
- Blanchard, L. The Street Railway Era in Seattle: A Chronicle of Six Decades Forty Fort (PA): Harold E. Cox, 1968.
- Price, J.H. "Museum News [Seattle]", Modern Tramway & Light Rail Transit, Jan. 1982 (45:529), p.30-31.
- Ryan, C. & Stadler, K.K. Seattle-Everett Interurban Railway. Charleston (SC): Arcadia, 2010
- Simons, V. "Seattle: Cutting edge LRT solutions", Tramways & Urban Transit, Jan. 2016 (79:937), p.9-13.
- Streetcar routes - April 1st, 1931 Seattle: Seattle Municipal Street Railway, 1931 (Mimeographed)
- Taplin, M.R. "Miraculous in Seattle", Tramways & Urban Transit, Oct. 2009 (72:862), p.380-381.
- Wing, W.W. To Seattle by trolley: The story of the Seattle-Everett Interurban and the "Trolley that went to sea". Edmonds (WA): Pacific Fast Mail, 1988
- Zahler A., Marti A. & Thomsen G. Seattle's South Park. Charleston (SC): Arcadia, 2006
WIKIS
- Central Link
- First Hill Streetcar
- History of Link Light Rail
- King County Metro
- Link Light Rail
- Puget Sound Electric Railway
- Seattle Center Monorail
- Seattle Municipal Street Railway
- Seattle Streetcar
- Sound Transit
- South Lake Union Streetcar
- Tacoma Link
- Transportation in Seattle
- University Link Tunnel
- Waterfront Streetcar
WEB SITES
- Crowley W. Street Railways in Seattle (on HistoryLink.org)
- Holmgren, D.F. The California Street Cable Railroad Company’s Connection to the Emerald City - Seattle
- King County Metro
- More than 100 years ago, streetcars ran throughout Seattle. Here’s how they met their demise.
- Richardson, R. White Center: — Thumbnail History (on HistoryLink.org)
- Seattle Center Monorail
- Seattle Transit Blog
- Sound Transit
- Tacoma Link Light Rail Line
- Thompson, J. Cable Car Lines in the Pacific Northwest
- Veka, C.H. Seattle’s Street Railway System and the Urban Form: Lessons from the Madison Street Cable Car (paper submitted at the University of Washington, 2007)
With my special thanks to the staff in the Seattle Collection division of the Seattle Public Library for their kind help while I was doing research for the preparation of this web page.
Copyright Gabor Sandi 1998-2024
Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.
To get in touch with the webmaster, send an e-mail to g_sandi at hotmail.com.
Flags on this site are from the FOTW Flags Of The World website.