Buster Simpson’s Plantings First in a series of occasional photo essays As we slide out of summer, let’s have a look at some of Leschi’s distinguished trees. Seattle has about 730 different kinds of street trees, which is to say, trees planted along a street right-of-way. This does not include trees in parks or on private property, categories we’ll also look at in coming articles. And I write “planted” advisedly: the last remaining original tree downtown was cut in 1879, and most of the city...

Late in the nineteenth century, the desirable part of the neighborhood later to be called Leschi was on the precipice of Mount Baker Ridge, then known as Rainier Heights. That was considered to be the best view property. People of some means built their homes there, especially along 30th Avenue South, which was called Rainier Street until Seattle’s comprehensive street renaming of 1895. Some of those fine, large structures remain to this day, among them the one now known as Judge Ronald...

June 25 marks the 100th birthday of Robert Hilliard, a key figure in the establishment of public broadcasting in the United States. He...