Getting Around, History of the Hill

Beacon Hill past and present: Streetcar tracks on Beacon Avenue

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Looking north on Beacon Avenue, just south of South Stevens Street, in March 1934. Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, item 8675.
Looking north on Beacon Avenue, just south of South Stevens Street, in March 1934. Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives, item 8675.
The same intersection, late afternoon in January 2009.
The same intersection, late afternoon in January 2009.

As Seattle begins to build new streetcar lines, it saddens me to think of all the streetcar lines we once had that were later ripped out in favor of buses. In the 1934 picture here, we see streetcar track work on Beacon Avenue, just south of Stevens. The site is still clearly recognizable today; particularly noticeable in both pictures are the brick apartment/retail building on the left (now home to Yoga on Beacon), the sign marking then Texaco/now Valero, and the white house just beyond the gas station.

The trolley wires overhead in the new photograph mark the last remaining vestige of our streetcar: the electric trolley buses that replaced it.

One thought on “Beacon Hill past and present: Streetcar tracks on Beacon Avenue”

  1. Yeah, while I’m excited about the light rail, I have to say there hasn’t been a single time I’ve driven down Beacon Ave without thinking about how there used to be a street car there. I can only imagine the added convenience and how it could have potentially helped better tie our hill together into a stronger community.

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