Seattle Neighborhoods: Fremont — Thumbnail History (historylink.org) Fremont, one of Seattle’s liveliest neighborhoods, modestly calls itself “the Center of the Universe.” Located north of the Ship Canal that connects Lake Union with Puget Sound, it is home to sculptural curiosities and a lively mix of bistros, artist studios, boutiques, and coffee shops. Starting out as cluster of small industries on the north Lake Union shore, it prospered from railroads and trolleys and went into decline when passenger transit faded out in the 1930s and 1940s. It became an artsy Mecca in the 1960s. Today, with the arrival of high tech companies, it is undergoing another transition.