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The Howe Street Stairs (also known as the East Howe Steps, Howe Stairs, Howe Street Staircase, and the Howe Staircase) are a public, outdoor
Due to Seattle's difficult topography, the city has spent more than a century building in excess of 650 staircases linking sections of neighborhoods that are otherwise isolated or disconnected. The Howe Street Stairs were originally built in 1911 to provide a pedestrian link between two different lines in Seattle's former streetcar system.
A proposal to construct a plaza at the bottom of the staircase has been advanced by area residents since the 2000s.
staircase
A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway ...
that straddles Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
's Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
and Eastlake neighborhoods. They were constructed in 1911.
History
Due to Seattle's difficult topography, the city has spent more than a century building in excess of 650 staircases linking sections of neighborhoods that are otherwise isolated or disconnected. The Howe Street Stairs were originally built in 1911 to provide a pedestrian link between two different lines in Seattle's former streetcar system.
A proposal to construct a plaza at the bottom of the staircase has been advanced by area residents since the 2000s.
Design
The stairs, which begin at Eastlake Avenue, are divided into 13 flights interrupted by landings and streets. They contain 388 steps and are the longest such staircase in the city. A portion of the stairs pass through the I-5 Colonnade, a city park under an elevated section ofInterstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
. They terminate at Howe Street, from which they take their name.
The stairs sit parallel to the nearby Blaine Street Stairs, which transits an identical route. They are used for exercise and fitness, as well as commuting.
See also
*Regrading in Seattle
The topography of central Seattle was radically altered by a series of regrades in the city's first century of urban settlement, in what might have been the largest such alteration of urban terrain at the time.
The heart of Seattle, largest cit ...
References
{{Eastlake, Seattle 1911 establishments in Washington (state) Buildings and structures completed in 1911 Capitol Hill, Seattle Eastlake, Seattle Stairways in the United States