Neighborhood Public Waterways

 The Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC ) posted this information in their recent newsletter:

LCC Centennial Feature: Laurelhurst Viewpoints Researched 

written by Jim Rupp, LCC trustee 

When many Laurelhurst residents think of sites that provide public waterfront access, they usually think of the Yesler Swamp walk or the Union Bay Natural Area (both featured in recent editions of the Laurelhurst Letter). Several other locations in the neighborhood provide such access, some only tiny but enjoyable spots, and many have been improved through the efforts of Laurelhurst neighbors. 

One of them is Belvoir Place, a small park at 3659 42nd Avenue NE. The city evidently acquired it in 1926 for some sort of pumping station, but never used it. In the 1970s a number of Laurelhurst residents convinced the city to designate it as a park, so the entrance was opened up and a rotting dock was renovated. Now that dock can be used to launch handcarried boats, and allow little kids to get close to birds, frogs and other shoreline denizens. 

Further along Union Bay, at 43rd Avenue NE and NE 35th Street, is Waterway #1, a section of public property that in the early 1900s had a dock for boats to bring people to Laurelhurst before there was good road access. Thanks to the efforts of the Laurelhurst Community Club and others, this park-like setting includes a basketball court and an improved shoreline to allow better access to the water. 

The tiny spots I referred to are actually street-ends that the city long ago designated as public property. There are 149 of them in the city and all are under the jurisdiction of the Seattle Department of Transportation. For decades they were largely unknown and overgrown (many still are), and some were hidden by landscaping extending from adjacent properties. In the 1990s the city decided to take control of them and make them more accessible to all. Four are available in Laurelhurst, providing quiet spaces for views, reflection, and unique experiences for little kids. 

The first is on Union Bay at NE 31st Street and E. Laurelhurst Drive NE, reached via a gravel path to the left at the bottom of the driveway. The second is at NE 31st Street and W. Laurelhurst Drive NE, next to the grand Tudor home with the name “Shoreham” over the doorway (The guy who built the house used to canoe from there to Victoria in the summer - but that’s another story!). When I was really little, it was an adventure to sneak down there with my parents. We referred to it as the place “where the lions and tigers live.” 

The fourth street end is next door to the Beach Club, at the foot of 51st Avenue NE. Until recently it was overgrown with bushes. Now a sign tells you that it’s a “public shore”, the land and the beach have been cleared up, and a picnic/game table has been installed. You can swim there too, but not after a heavy rain. A sign warns you that a storm sewer outflow is nearby. 

The last street end is a secluded spot at the bottom of the long stairway at NE 43rd Street and 55th Avenue NE. It would be awfully steep for a street, but that’s the nature of street ends. They don’t need to be useable for traffic, they’re just the end of the street on a map, and we get to use them.