Our Queen Anne community began in the 1870s, when the area was still known as North Seattle. The people, and with them the name Queen Anne, came in the 1880s. It was a century later, in the 1970s, when the Queen Anne Historical Society was founded. Today, over 130 years of growth—of streetcars, of schools and churches, and of thousands of families and their children—has shaped our 21st century urban community.

The society was incorporated in 1972 and devoted its early years to supporting a number of landmarking proposals and to public outreach by publishing an illustrated Queen Anne Tour brochure and selling historical calendars. In the 1980s, led by Michael Kemp-Slaughter, work with McClure Middle School students produced a Captain Vancouver plaque at Betty Bowen Viewpoint on Highland Drive. In 1986 we cosponsored a major public open house at the Ballard Mansion, also on Highland Drive, and another fund-raising effort came from the 1989 re-publication of “Homes and Gardens of the Pacific Coast, Seattle, 1913.”

Every community needs a written history. Our history book, Queen Anne: Community on the Hill, began in 1989 with a push by Emery Gustafson that led to four years of effort by many people, many arguments, and a joyful conclusion in 1993 when the book was published. The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods supplied a seed grant and the editor, Dr. Kay Reinartz, contributed both chapter material and leadership to accomplish this project.

In the 1990s, City landmark nomination efforts were minimal. Exhausted by the book project the Society members focused mostly on educational activities. Public programs, walking tours and cooperation with other local organizations were featured. Isabel Egglin, currently society president, has been persistent in developing ties with local schools. The presence of historic Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne has been an invaluable tool for presenting Seattle and Northwest history during walking tours of the forty-acre grounds. The society’s web site, www.qahistory.org, was begun in 1996 and is one of the earliest historical society web sites in King County.

Since 1988, thanks to the generosity of Bayview Manor, the retirement center located on the site of the former Kinnear mansion, the society archives have been housed in a storage space at their center. Due largely to the efforts of Bob Frazier, the archive has been a valuable resource for the society, in spite of the major difficulty of not having a permanent office. The image of the Kinnear mansion is also used as the society logo.

During most of these years Historic Seattle has been available to the society as a resource for information and referral. Made to Last, written by Lawrence Kreisman and published by Historic Seattle, is a constant reference for our tours and research. Other Historic Seattle members have contributed to our walking tours and public programs.

Many of today’s Queen Anne residents are newcomers who have moved here to be part of our sense of community, as well as for other amenities of in-city living. The Queen Anne Historical Society charter encourages members to nurture an understanding and appreciation of our past as well as our present in our local residents—there is a reason our community looks the way it does, why the parks and streets have the names they do. The pressure of growth and ever-increasing real estate prices is slowly changing our hill. Retaining both the story of our past and the physical presence of our past is becoming an increasing focus of our activities. One example is the current successful effort to preserve the Treat House at Queen Anne Avenue and Highland Drive.

The preservation community is invited to take part in the Queen Anne Historical Society’s work. Public meetings are held every other month. For information contact John Hennes, 206-284-2266 or on-line at www.qahistory.org, email help@qahistory.org.

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