Site Report 3: The Audio Tour
This is a map of my choice, displaying the roads and civilization in seattle in 1857. This image was taken from the United States Geological Survey.
A drawing layout of block 32 from 1912, image taken from Kroll's atlas of Seattle, Seattle Municipal Archives Map Index.
This is an ariel view from Google Images of block 32 before the fire on August 28, 2016.
This is a section of the newspaper Seattle Weekly, in 1989 which discusses the cities plan and opinions of putting the Burke Gilman trail in place.
This is an image of the fire burning down the apartment on block 32.
The land on block 32 currently is home to The Northlake Building, the Burke Gilman trail, as well as a burned down one story house. Let’s start with the Northlake Building, Building Services, 814 N.E Northlake Place. The City of Seattle acquired this property in 1971 as part of the Northeast Pacific Street Relocation. This relocation was first approved in 1693, and was finalized in 1974, declaring the location of Northeast Pacific Street. The streets themselves were characterized separately, Northlake way being an Industrial Access street and 40th being a commercial connector. The property in between these roads was bought and sold, and today is leased out to Theodore Jonsson, expiring on 10/31/2019. When researching on the University of Washington website, I have found that the Building Services Department consists of custodial services and UW recycling. They provide and promote waste and cleaning services in attempt to obtain an environmentally sustainable campus. I can assume the individuals working on this block are supporters of a green earth, they are environmentally friendly and support their work. The employees thus must be passionate about the environment and the future of the city and the University of Washington.
In front of the Northlake Building lies the remains of a building that in the past was rented out to cheap individuals looking for a one-person apartment. As viewed on the left, a fire in 2016 wiped out this building, and as of now, the land is not in use.
Behind both of these lots lies the Burke Gilman trail, which stretches 19.8 miles, occupying an abandoned Seattle railway. This railway once was a major regional line serving Puget Sound logging areas, but eventually was merged with the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Burlington lines to become the Burlington Northern Railroad. This railroad supplied goods and people throughout the united states, increasing transportation usage and movement throughout different people. In 1971 Burlington Northern abandoned the line, and it slowly transformed into the existing multi use trail it is today.