Where is Capitol Hill? Seems a simple question until you really try to define it. This pages covers a few of the different definitions we can find.
Here is the 2014 CHCC bylaws defination:
Capitol Hill is bounded
- To the West by I-5 (just east of downtown Seattle);
- To the North by Roanoke Street and by Interlaken Boulevard;
- To the East by 24th Avenue East and 23rd Avenue East; and,
- To the South by where East Madison Street intersects East Pike Street, and continuing along East Pike Street to I-5.
These boundaries are inclusive of both sides of any street listed as a boundary.
Here is the 2009 CHCC bylaws definition:
Capitol Hill is bounded by I-5 to the West (just east of downtown Seattle), by 520 to the North, by E. Pike and E. Madison streets to the South, and by 23rd and 24th Avenues East to the East.
A May 22, 1968 Seattle Times article has the Capitol Hill Community Council as bounded by this:
“The boundaries of the community now are considered as being East Madison St from 15th Ave, through the Arboretum directly to Roanoke Interchange; south along the Freeway to East Denny Way and east to 15th Ave”
Discussion
Defining areas is always hard. This page will be updated with more information as time goes on.
To hold you over you can look at this design document form 2017 that covers the Pike/Pine Neighborhood Design Guidelines. Thinking of Pike/Pine as a separate area might help us to understand why in 1968 the CHCC didn’t think the future Cal Anderson Park is part of “Capitol Hill”.