clockwise around Elliott Bay
- Seattle Neighborhoods: Belltown-Denny Regrade — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
The area of Seattle stretching north of the central business district from Stewart Street to Mercer Street is usually dubbed the Denny Regrade, acknowledging the area’s forcible flattening by city engineers early in the twentieth century. It incorporates the older Belltown district, originally west of 2nd Avenue but today more broadly defined by its various denizens. The area today combines artist lofts and hangouts with new highrises where condos and apartments are providing close-in housing. Following the new, mostly affluent residents, a number of upscale restaurants and clubs have established a brisk trade in the area. The result, at least for the time being, is a yeasty combination of the bohemian and the trendy, with a significant nightlife.
- History of Maplewood (maplewoodmn.gov)
The written history of Maplewood begins about 165 years ago when European and French-Canadian settlers began farming in this area. Prior to this time, the land was inhabited by the Dakota Indians with occasional visits by French and English fur traders and explorers. The landscape was a mix of scrub oak and prairie with many wetlands and lakes.
- Belltown, Seattle (Wikipedia)
Belltown is the most densely populated neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States, located on the city’s downtown waterfront on land that was artificially flattened as part of a regrading project. Formerly a low-rent, semi-industrial arts district, in recent decades it has transformed into a neighborhood of trendy restaurants, boutiques, nightclubs, and residential towers as well as warehouses and art galleries. The area is named after William Nathaniel Bell, on whose land claim the neighborhood was built.