The shores of Lake Union were inhabited by the Duwamish people since time immemorial. They called the lake “meman hartshu” meaning “little lake” and had several settlements surrounding it. Seattle’s Cascade or South Lake Union (SLU) neighborhood began growing quickly in the 1880s, as the city expanded north from downtown. Industrial activity on the lake increased in the early 1900s when the ship canal was completed. In the 1950s SLU was a mix of marine industries, working-class residences, manufacturing, and commercial activity including many car-related businesses. It largely retained this identity until the early 21st century despite the challenges of economic downturn and the pressures of gentrification. Medical organizations moved in in the 1980s, and tech giant Amazon moved to SLU in the early 2000s.

This image shows an aerial view of the neighborhood in 1953. The intersection in the foreground is Aurora Avenue and Denny Street. Seattle’s oldest park, Denny Park, is visible on the right. The Battery Street Tunnel opened a year after this image was taken, taking Aurora Avenue's traffic underground. The northern entrance to the tunnel would be just below the bottom of this image.

Caption information source: “Seattle Neighborhoods: Cascade and South Lake Union – Thumbnail History,” by Louis Fiset, HistoryLink essay 3178, retrieved from https://www.historylink.org/file/3178.
Caption information source: Market to MOHAI history blades, retrieved from https://www.markettomohai.org/history-blades.