Kar Discover: February 2025

Savoring The Time In Seattle

3.8 District 3 Central Sunday 2024-04-14

3.8 District 3

Central District

The Central Area (commonly called the Central District or The CD) is a mostly residential neighborhood in Seattle located east of downtown and First Hill (12th Avenue and Rainier Avenue); west of Madrona, Leschi and Mt. Baker; south of Capitol Hill, and north of Rainier Valley. Historically, the Central District has been one of Seattle's most racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods, and was once the center of Seattle's black community and a major hub of African-American businesses.

The Central District is a diverse residential cluster of historically African-American neighborhoods. Culture, art and history exhibits are on display at the Northwest African American Museum. The 1915 Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, a former synagogue, is an arts hub showing films, plays and musicals. Ethiopian and soul food eateries dot the district, along with an increasing number of hip bars and cafes.

Northwest African American Museum
2300 S Massachusetts St, Seattle,
WA 98144, United States

https://www.naamnw.org/

The Northwest African American Museum serves to present and preserve the connections between the Pacific Northwest and people of African descent and investigate and celebrate Black experiences in America through exhibitions, programs and events.

First Hill

First Hill is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is named for the hill on which it is located, which in turn is so named for being the first hill encountered while traveling east from downtown Seattle toward Lake Washington. First Hill is bounded on the west by Interstate 5, beyond which is Downtown, on the north by E. Pike and E. Madison Streets, beyond which is Capitol Hill, and on the south by Yesler Way, beyond which is the International District.

First Hill has been home to Seattle University, a private Jesuit university, since 1891. Also located on the hill are Northwest School, Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Catholic O'Dea High School, and Frye Art Museum, as well as several churches that have become city landmarks: St. James Cathedral, Trinity Parish Church, and Seattle First Baptist Church.

Rising behind the downtown retail core, First Hill is a diverse jumble of high-rise apartments, historic mansions and hospitals. The Frye Art Museum displays works by 19th- and 20th-century European and American painters. Nearby, Roman Revival Town Hall Seattle is a cultural venue and community hub hosting lectures, author readings and concerts. Casual eateries cluster on Madison Street and near Seattle University.

St. James Cathedral

804 9th Ave, Seattle,
WA 98104, United States

https://www.stjames-cathedral.org/narthex.aspx

St. James Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral located at 804 Ninth Avenue in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Seattle and the seat of its archbishop, currently Paul D. Etienne.

Seattle's beautiful Italian Renaissance–style Catholic cathedral was built in 1907. The original dome collapsed in 1916, the victim of a rare Seattle snowstorm, but the two impressive towers remain. Inside, the altar is located unusually in the church's center.

Frye Art Museum
704 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA 98104, United States
https://fryemuseum.org/

The Frye Art Museum is a modern and contemporary art museum in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1952 to house the collection of Charles and Emma Frye and has since grown to include rotating temporary exhibitions of emerging and contemporary artists.

Capital Hill

Capitol Hill is a densely populated residential district and a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is immediately east of Downtown Seattle and north of First Hill. The neighborhood is one of the city's most popular nightlife and entertainment districts.

Diverse Capitol Hill is packed with hip bars, and eateries, plus laid-back coffee shops and indie stores. Volunteer Park, atop the hill in a historic mansion district, has walking trails, a plant conservatory, panoramic city views and the art deco Asian Art Museum. It abuts Lake View Cemetery, where the city’s founders and world famous Kung Fu movie star Bruce Lee are buried. Kids play in the wading pool at smaller Cal Anderson Park.

Registered Historic Places on Capitol Hill include the Harvard-Belmont Landmark District, in which is located the original building of the Cornish College of the Arts; Volunteer Park, in which are the Seattle Asian Art Museum and Volunteer Park Conservatory; and The Northwest School.

In addition to Volunteer Park, parks on Capitol Hill include Cal Anderson Park, Louisa Boren Park, Interlaken Park, Roanoke Park, Pendleton Miller Park, and Thomas Street Park. Lake View Cemetery, containing the graves of Bruce Lee and his son Brandon Lee, lies directly north of Volunteer Park, and the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery is further north.

Volunteer Park Conservatory

1400 E Galer St, Seattle,
WA 98112, United States

https://www.volunteerparkconservatory.org/

Volunteer Park is a 48.3-acre (19.5 ha) park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States.
The park includes a conservatory (a designated city landmark) which was completed in 1912; an amphitheater; a water tower with an observation deck, built by the Water Department in 1906, a fenced-off reservoir; the dramatic Art Deco building of the Seattle Asian Art Museum (a designated city landmark); a statue of William H. Seward; a memorial to Judge Thomas Burke; and a sculpture, Black Sun, by Isamu Noguchi (colloquially referred to as "The Doughnut"), around which a scenic view of the Seattle skyline that prominently features the Space Needle can be seen, as well as several meadows and picnic tables.

The Volunteer Park Conservatory is a botanical garden, conservatory, and Seattle landmark located in Seattle, Washington at the north end of Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill.

Made up of 3,426 glass panes fit into a wood and iron framework, this Victorian-style greenhouse structure is modeled on London's Crystal Palace. Inside, the Volunteer Park Conservatory is divided into five display houses: bromeliads, ferns, palms, seasonal, and cacti/succulents.

Washington Park Arboretum
2300 Arboretum Dr E, Seattle,
WA 98112, United States
https://botanicgardens.uw.edu/washington-park-arboretum/

Washington Park is a public park in Seattle, Washington, United States, most of which is taken up by the Washington Park Arboretum, a joint project of the University of Washington, the Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the nonprofit Arboretum Foundation.

Washington Park also includes a playfield and the Seattle Japanese Garden in its southwest corner. To the north is Union Bay; to the west are Montlake and Madison Valley; to the south is the Washington Park neighborhood; and to the east is the Broadmoor Golf Club.

Seattle Asian Art Museum

1400 E Prospect St, Seattle,
WA 98112, United States

https://www.seattleartmuseum.org/

The Seattle Asian Art Museum (often abbreviated to SAAM) is a museum of Asian art at Volunteer Park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Part of the Seattle Art Museum, the SAAM exhibits historic and contemporary artworks from China, Korea, Japan, India, the Himalayas, and other Southeast Asian countries. It also features an education center, conservation center, and library. The museum is located in the 1933 Art Deco building which was originally home to the Seattle Art Museum's main collection. In 1991 the main collection moved to a newly constructed Seattle Art Museum building in the downtown area. The Seattle Asian Art Museum opened in 1994.

Madison Park

4201 E Madison St., Seattle, WA 98112

https://www.seattle.gov/parks/allparks/madison-park

Madison Park is a neighborhood in eastern Seattle, Washington, United States. It is named after the city park at the foot of Madison Street on the Lake Washington shore. The neighborhood is generally bounded on the east by Lake Washington; on the south by East Prospect Street, beyond which is Denny-Blaine; on the west by Lake Washington Boulevard E.; and on the north by Union Bay. Madison Park generally consists of single-family housing with a small business district near the park.

Madison Park North Beach
2300 43rd Ave E, Seattle,
WA 98112, United States

https://www.seattle.gov/parks/allparks/madison-park-north-beach

Madison Park North Beach is located on Lake Washington, at the intersection of East Lynn Street and 43rd Avenue East. The park is one block north of Madison Park swim beach. The park is a long relatively narrow strip of grass with a view of Lake Washington. The park slopes downward from the sidewalk to the lake and there is a swing set and several benches.

Because of the rock seawall along this stretch of shoreline, the park is not suitable for swimming or boat launching.