Some Interesting NE Surber History

 A Laurelhurst Community Club member published this history about NE Surber Drive:

William H. Surber Researched and written by Jim Rupp, LCC trustee

 

When developers created Laurelhurst, their plats had picturesque street names that are long forgotten. Names like Laurel Avenue, Prospect Avenue, Ridge Road, and View Drive (all included in the Laurelhurst Heights Plat of the early 1900s) disappeared when Laurelhurst was annexed to Seattle in 1910. 

Most street names were given numbers, which helped the fire department find homes before they burned to the ground. There are some exceptions. For instance, Cascade and Olympic drives became East and West Laurelhurst drives. 

And Surber Avenue and Surber Place became Surber Drive. Why keep the Surber name? Well, it’s because its namesake – William H. Surber – was one of the earliest settlers in the area, and he was a memorable figure they called “Uncle Joe.” 

He came to Seattle in 1858 and worked as a carpenter and as a contractor driving piles for many of the early waterfront railroad trestles. He was also Seattle’s first chief of police. Through it all he supplemented his income by selling wild game he hunted throughout the area. He shot his first deer in downtown Seattle, near what is now Marion Street and Third and Fourth avenues. 

One of Surber’s favorite hunting spots was what became Laurelhurst. In 1861 he acquired 160 acres along the shores of Union Bay, bordered on the east and west by what are now 45th NE and 35th NE. 

In 1888 Henry Yesler bought part of that property and built a sawmill and created the town of Yesler, near where the UW Horticulture Center is located. Surber had a house and a farm on the property, and he would regale visitors with stories of pioneer days. To get there, friends would often take the trolley to Madison Park, then rent a canoe or rowboat and cross Union Bay. Surber was still living in his Laurelhurst house when he died in 1923 at 89. Surber is buried at Seattle’s historic Lake View Cemetery on Capitol Hill, near many pioneers who enjoyed his good company.