History

The Neighborhoods of Southwest Seattle

Explore the communities that make up Southwest Seattle, from Alki Beach and the Junction to Delridge, South Park, and White Center. Each neighborhood has its own story, shaped by the land, the water, and the people who have lived and worked here over time.

Long before streets and streetcars, Coast Salish communities cared for this land and its waterways. Later came shipyards, small businesses, schools, parks, and homes. Families arrived from different places, built lives here, and left their mark on the character of each neighborhood.

Southwest Seattle continues to change, but its history is still visible in familiar landmarks, gathering places, and everyday routines. These stories connect past and present and help us understand the place we call home.

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Alaska Junction

The Junction got its name because it was built at the intersection of two streetcar lines.

Alki Beach & Duwamish Head

Duwamish Head and Alki Point were among the earliest areas of non-Native settlement in what became Seattle.

Delridge

Delridge, a neighborhood of dells and ridges, began as a gritty steel town.

Fauntleroy

At the far southwest corner of Seattle you will find the Fauntleroy neighborhood facing Vashon Island and the Olympic Mountains to the west.

South Park

South Park lies along the west bank of the Duwamish River, five miles south of downtown Seattle.

White Center

In October of 1870, 319 acres of land was purchased by the Soloman family, the early settlers of White Center.

Log House Museum

The Log House Museum is located in a renovated turn-of-the-century log structure which once served as a carriage house, or stable, to the Fir Lodge.

Alki Self Guided Tour

Explore the stories of the Duwamish Peninsula, from Coast Salish stewardship to early settlement and the growth of West Seattle’s neighborhoods.