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South Park

Annexed to Seattle in 1907 the community grew up through Japanese and Italian farmers that worked small plots and supplied the Pike Place Market. World War II and industrial development dramatically changed the community’s setting, during the 1960s the entire city was rezoned as industrial, but community protest successfully changed the zoning to low-density residential.

The first name was Ox Bow, for a curve in the Duwamish River. An alternate name is South Park Junction. At the time the area was named it was in the south end of Seattle, so the name was descriptive.

Points of Interest Points of Interest icon

14th Avenue South Bridge

The 14th Avenue South Bridge was constructed across the Duwamish River in 1931 by the King County Engineering Department. A Scherzer Rolling Lift Bascule Bridge, it is the last remaining example of this typology in the state.

Loretta’s Northwesterner

Loretta’s Northwesterner, a local dive bar, the business is a notable legacy business in downtown South Park.

Duwamish River

The sluggish river, winding to Elliott Bay, is visible at intervals; on its banks was the old Duwamish settlement, first in the Seattle area, in 1850. Along the low, flat, river valley, are hundreds of acres of truck gardens, most of them farmed by Japanese and Italians. The fertile black loam, painstakingly cultivated, yields vegetables and berries for Seattle markets.

South Park is part of the following tour legs:

Seattle to Olympia

South Park is part of the following tours:

Canadian Border to Vancouver