page_title: Westlake Avenue
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Westlake Avenue / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Westlake Boulevard, Seattle, Washington, c. 1909 (probably a bit earlier). Fourth Avenue rises away to the left (so this is after Westlake Boulevard—now Westlake Avenue—was regraded, but before Fourth Avenue was). The Hotel Plaza stood where Westlake Park stands today. The Hotel Radium would have been roughly where the Century Square building now stands. This view is now blocked by Westlake Mall, and the first two blocks of the street no longer exist.
context_page_description: Westlake Avenue is a major street in Seattle, Washington, connecting Downtown Seattle to the neighborhoods of South Lake Union, Westlake and northeastern Queen Anne. The street runs north–south along the west side of Lake Union for 2.5 miles from McGraw Square to the Fremont Bridge.
  The street's unusual route through the Denny Triangle follows a former railroad grade through a narrow valley between two hills that were regraded in the early 20th century. Westlake Boulevard was constructed through the valley in 1906, following the railroad and a streetcar line, and was later renamed to Westlake Avenue. The street was modified to run northbound-only from Denny Way to Mercer Street in the mid-20th century and remained one-way until 2007.
  Westlake Avenue is also served by a variety of public transit routes, including the South Lake Union Streetcar and RapidRide C Line. In 2016, a section of the street in South Lake Union received transit-only lanes in March 2016 and a cycletrack was installed along the west side of Lake Union. A Link light rail station is planned to be built at Westlake and Denny Way when a planned extension to Ballard is completed in 2035.
context_section_description: A military road was built along the west side of Lake Union in the early 1860s to connect the lake to the modern settlement of Seattle, following the general path of an older trail used by Native Americans. Lake Union became a landing point for coal shipments that were hauled by boat and wagon from modern-day Newcastle and Renton and were bound for ships on Elliott Bay. A narrow gauge railroad was constructed in 1872 through the valley on the east side of Denny Hill, following the modern-day route of Westlake Avenue. The railroad was abandoned five years later and replaced in 1890 with a streetcar line that was built in less than a week by the Seattle Electric Railway and Power Company. Between Depot Street (now Denny Way) and the southern shore of Lake Union, the streetcar followed Rollin Avenue.
  The street was constructed in 1907 and completed in November of that year.
caption: Looking at the intersection of Westlake Avenue and 4th Avenue in 1909
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