Lower Queen Anne Spotlight
Lower Queen Anne Spotlight
The neighborhood is home to Seattle Center, a park and entertainment center originally built for the World’s Fair in 1962. The center is home to several theaters, including Book-It Repertory Theatre as well as August Wilson Way. And you can’t miss the iconic Space Needle. Browse for books at Mercer Street Books and then head up the hill to Queen Anne Book Company.
Bookstores and Libraries
Mercer Street Books
This charming, independently owned store sells a wide array of used books in excellent condition.
Theaters
Book-It Repertory Theatre
This regional theater company brings the page directly to the stage by using an author’s exact words in their stage adaptations of books.
Landmarks
The Space Needle
This iconic landmark was originally built for the World’s Fair in 1962. It has been featured in several books including the picture book Wheedle on the Needle and the novel Truth Like the Sun. Although the fine dining restaurant that hosts a key scene in Where’d You Go Bernadette closed in 2017, visitors can still enjoy a glass of wine and a snack while taking in the breathtaking views from the top.
People
Chief Si’ahl (c. 1786-1866), who is commemorated by the statue in the fountain here, was an important Suquamish and Duwamish chief, for whom Seattle is named. The name “Seattle” is an Anglicization of Si'ahl, the modern Duwamish spelling of siʔaɫ. A famous speech advocating ecological responsibility is attributed to him.
Frank Herbert (1920-1986) is best known for his landmark science fiction novel Dune and its sequels, Herbert wrote for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in the early 1970s. He was posthumously inducted into MoPOP’s Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006.
“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”
August Wilson (1945-2005) was a multi-Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, who is best known for his ten-play series The Pittsburgh Cycle, which includes Fences, The Piano Lesson, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He lived in Seattle from 1990 until his death in 2005. During his time here, he had a long-standing relationship with The Seattle Repertory Theatre, near August Wilson Way.
“You got to be right with yourself before you can be right with anybody else.”