A Very Incomplete History of the Seattle Municipal Street Railway

I always do a double take when I come across forgotten traces of the past built environment.  These leftovers make me imagine how the space could feel and function differently than how I know it. 

I stopped on my bike the other day to take a picture of these poorly disguised old trolley tracks where they turn the corner of "W" 67th St and 20th Ave NW near Salmon Bay Park. Imagine a trolley clattering through these now nearly silent suburban streets.  Even harder to imagine is back in 1905 when the only way to access your new house was by trolley, horse and buggy, walking, or, if you could afford, a brand new Model T.  

You can see where the tracks were literally patched over, now layered with a traffic-calming roundabout.

These covered tracks are a remnant of a once-independent trolley line from about 1905 that was later consolidated into what became the Seattle Municipal Street Railway System and dismantled in 1940 or 41. (source)

Portion of a map of the Seattle Municipal Street Railway in 1933 from http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/08/23/mistakes-were-made

It looks to me like the trolley did not ever actually turn the corner from 67th to 20th, but rather it was built with a curve so it could be expanded to connect to the line farther south on 20th, even though it never was.  

For a much more complete history of the trolleys in Seattle, check out this historical note, from WSU.