In 1870, Seattle pioneer David Denny (1832-1903) purchased 160 acres, including Licton Springs, from the U.S. government for $1.25 an acre. He built a summer cabin on the property. That same year, David's brother Arthur Denny (1822-1899) purchased 400 acres to the west. David Denny and his family spent time at their wilderness retreat at Licton Springs. In 1869, he shot the last elk in Seattle near Green Lake.

Denny had the water at Licton Springs tested in 1883 and it was determined to be healthful. There were at least two springs in the area: one with sulfur magnesia and another with iron, which caused the reddish color. Denny constructed a two-story frame house at Licton Springs and contemplated a health resort for invalids and pleasure seekers. Denny's daughter, Emily Inez Denny reportedly had an incurable disease and was restored to health by drinking the waters of Licton Springs.

After the Panic of 1893, David and Louisa (Boren) Denny (1821-1916) were forced to move from their home on Queen Anne Hill, first to a small house in Fremont, and finally to their summer cottage at Licton Springs. David Denny died there on November 25, 1903.

By the early 1900’s, most of the north end of Seattle had been pretty thoroughly logged off. The parcel that the hill sits on was apparently purchased by Anna Ashworth, a pioneer of the Fremont Community (as in Ashworth Avenue). She passed it to her daughter Margaret, who married one Henry Niblett. They leased out the land for farming, while the surrounding lots were platted for a residential neighborhood.

By this date Meridian Avenue was an established thoroughfare, and (a dirt) Corliss Avenue had been extended as far as 102nd.  The Niblett’s leased the hilltop plot to Shoji and Matsumi Kumasaka, Japanese immigrants who arrived here in 1911. After leveling sections for construction, they built a greenhouse farm on the site. The house occupied a site adjacent to what is now the vernal pond. The greenhouses were situated on the (re-graded) hilltop. They raised a family and built a business, which they passed on to their son Akira and his wife Sayo in the late 1930’s. The Kumasaka family was one of many Japanese-American families in this area, most engaged in small-scale truck farming. The family was an important part of that community, and operated a small Japanese Language School and Community Center on the southeast corner of their property.

With the advent of World War II, Japanese-American citizens on the west coast were rounded up and relocated to concentration camps. Sayo Kumasaka and the children were sent to Minidoka, (Idaho), while Akira stayed behind and took low-visibility jobs over the duration. When the War was over, the family returned to find the school / community center burned to the ground, and the greenhouses extensively damaged. They rebuilt the farm, but not the community center. Few of their old Japanese-American neighbors returned to the neighborhood after the war.

The decade of the 1960’s was one of great change in Seattle, one in which this neighborhood participated fully. The big development over the first half of the decade was the construction of the Interstate Highway through the city. Whole neighborhoods were removed to make way for Interstate 5, including in this area. The swath of land between Corliss Avenue and 1st Avenue was cleared, filled and graded for the roadway, in a massive engineering project. The highway cut through the Maple Leaf – Meridian Hill, then crossed the lowest section of the basin along a massive berm of fill material.

By good fortune, the hill was spared as the freeway came through. The project clipped the east ridge a bit, but preserved most of this feature. For a number of years, drivers along the Interstate would see the Kumasaka Green Houses along the side of the freeway. For the next decade, they would serve as a local landmark.

While every neighborhood along the route of the freeway was impacted by the project, this community paid a heavy price. The project took out half the neighborhood, and replaced it with a twenty-foot high earthen wall. The earth-works only exacerbated the drainage issues in the area, while the roadway proved to be a perpetual noise generator. The “little community in the hollow” was now a much smaller community, in “the hollow beneath the freeway.”

It had never been a great neighborhood, but the freeway was a devastating blow. As land-use plans changed, the adjoining lots to the north were converted to office and apartment spaces, while the residential neighborhood underwent a certain measure of decay. Poor soils and perennial flooding were a disincentive for investment, and there was a strong measure of uncertainty over its future.

About the time that the freeway project was finishing up, the city found itself looking for properties on which to locate three new community colleges. For the “north” campus, they needed a large parcel of real-estate.

The State Community College Act of 1967 established college districts apart from the public schools, with a mandate to provide an open door to education for all who seek it. A long-range plan called for three campuses in the city, and planning began immediately for North Seattle College and South Seattle College.

Development of the North Seattle College, then known as North Seattle Community College: Community College District 6, began in 1968 number the for Division of Engineering and Architecture and Department of General Administration O.E. Project Number Washington 3-9-00398-0. Local architectural Firm Edward Mahlum & Associates was selected as the architects for the project (see Project Team for more information).

By September 1970, all three colleges opened together for the first time as a multi-campus district. Seattle Vocational Institute, affiliated with Central, joined the district in 1991 under the state’s Workforce Training and Education Act. The district also includes five specialized training centers located throughout the city.

1993

The Physical Education Building, now known as the Wellness Center was built.

1998

The Vocation Building, now known as the Education Building and Childcare Center was built.

2011

Opportunity Center for Employment and Education was built.

2014

Health Sciences and Student Resources was built.

2020-2023

The Light Rail Station at Northgate is slated to open Fall of 2021 linking North Seattle College to the City of Seattle. Major Renovation work is slated to begin on the North Seattle Library and construction to be completed by September 2023.

Archive Access

Please contact Capital Projects and Plant Operations 206-934-3633 to schedule a visit

References

Figge, J. (2014). The view form the hill: A year in the evolution of a north seattle landscape. North Seattle College. https://www.northseattlecolleges.edu

Edward Mahlum and Associates, William G. Teufel, Peter H. Hostmark and Associates, & Valentine, Fisher and Tomlinson. (1968, September 4). North seattle community college campus construction documents [Architectural Design Package]. In North Seattle College Facilities Archives.

The pacific coast architectural data base. (n.d.). PCAD. Retrieved March 23, 2021, from http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/

Brutalism. (n.d.). RIBA. Retrieved March 23, 2021, from https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/brutalism

Brutalism. (2019, March 22). Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation (DAHP). https://dahp.wa.gov/historic-preservation/historic-buildings/architectural-style-guide/brutalism

Building development plan north seattle college. (2016, June).