You may recall – or may have even participated – in the Queen Anne Stairway Walk back in October. It was led by Cathy and Jake Jaramillo, authors of the new book “Seattle Stairway Walks: An Up-and-Down Guide to City Neighborhoods”, and the group traversed both easy-to-find and somewhat hidden stairways in Southwest Queen Anne. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and a good workout to boot!

If you missed the walk or have an interest in our Queen Anne stairways, the authors will be speaking at this week’s Queen Anne Historical Society’s monthly meeting – which is free and open to all. The Jaramillos will be discussing their experiences ascending and descending the many stairways on Queen Anne and in other nearby neighborhoods. You can check out more on their book in this article by our news partner The Seattle Times.

For a handy pocket-guide to all 120 of our Queen Anne stairways, check out the “Map of the (Oft) Pedestrian Public Stairs of Queen Anne”. It’s available through the QAHS and also at Charley+May (it’s in their display window right now). I’m currently working my way through all 120, and the pocket guide is certainly handy for finding those hidden stairways in our neighborhood!

Key Details:

• What: QAHS Meeting – Stairs of Our Neighborhood
• When: Thursday, January 24 at 7:00pm
• Where: Seattle Church of Christ, 2555 8th Ave W

As reported last night, the Queen Anne Stairway walk took place this afternoon, led by the authors of the upcoming “Seattle Stairway Walks” with added historical insights from members of the Queen Anne Historical Society. Despite the rain, about two dozen people showed up for the walk, and promptly at 1pm, the weather cooperated and the rain let up for the 2 hour tour. It was a fast-paced up-and-down tour, but what a way to spend a Saturday!

The crowd was a mix of Queen Anne residents and visitors from other neighborhoods. I talked with several out-of-neighborhood visitors, and their comments further cemented why Queen Anne is my neighborhood of choice – “beautiful”, “serene”, “spectacular views”, and “amazing houses” were just a few of the comments.

If you didn’t get the opportunity to take the tour, you can do so yourself by following along with the mapped walks in the upcoming “Seattle Stairway Walks: An Up-and-Down Guide to City Neighborhoods” – it will be published in December, and if you pre-order, you can save 25% with the code “SEASt12”. For a preview of the book, take a look at the pictures on the Seattle Stairway Walks website.

And, personally, I highly recommend “Map of the (Oft) Pedestrian Public Stairs of Queen Anne”, which was created by Thomas Horton, a local architect. It is a great guide to all of our public stairs, and the hand-drawn map and annotations are unique. The map is available online from the Queen Anne Historical Society, and also at Queen Anne Books (until they close on October 31).

The Queen Anne Historical Society’s mission is to preserve the history and fabric of our neighborhood, and this Thursday, QAHS presents “What Oral Histories Can Tell Us About Neighborhood Change” – your chance to hear oral histories from long-time Queen Anne residents, and talk with them about their experiences. Norma Cathey, Bob Frazier, and Kim Turner all experienced the metamorphosis following the 1962 World’s Fair, and their oral histories detail the changes Queen Anne experienced in the 1970s and 80s.

The QAHS will play sound bites from the oral histories and show images of Queen Anne before, during, and after the Fair. Guest speaker Debbie Fant, Deputy Director of Northwest Folklife (2012 winner of an Archie Green Fellowship for the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress), will also discuss the importance of oral histories.

Thursday’s meeting is free and open to all, providing Queen Anne residents with the opportunity to learn more about our neighborhood’s history, how much it’s changed since 1962, and ask questions of the residents who experienced that history.

Key Details:
- What: QAHS Meeting
- When: Thursday, September 27, 7pm
- Where: Seattle Church of Christ, 2555 8^th Ave West
- Cost: FREE

The Queen Anne Historical Society is looking for volunteers. Michael Herschensohn, the president of the society posted this information in the Queen Anne View forum:

The Queen Anne Historical Society is a 30-year-old all-volunteer organization dedicated to the history and preservation of our Queen Anne neighborhood. The society urgently seeks volunteers to help with publicizing meetings, tours and other activities; writing articles for our newsletter; updating our website; coordinating five or six public meetings per year; writing potential landmark nominations and much, much, more. Let us know here if you can help. We will get back quickly.

I finally got my hands on a copy of the latest Sunset Magazine (the September issue) and sure enough, there is in fact a three-page spread dedicated to Queen Anne.

Our neighborhood hill has – count them – 121 hidden public stairways. And for the “Inside Seattle” city scape feature, writer Kathryn True highlights four can’t-miss routes for urban hiking up and down Queen Anne’s historic staircases.

For those of you who aren’t able to pick up a copy, here are True’s top picks:

The Galer Traverse: a nine stairway, 225-step (QA’s longest!) route beginning at the East Queen Anne Greenbelt and ending at the Galer Crown, the highest stairs on the hill.

From Kinnear Park to Kerry Park: soaks in the views from Kinnear to Parsons Gardens Park to Wilcox Wall and finally Kerry Park, where you can catch a view of the whole city.

The Garden Route: Start at Soundview Terrace Park and make you way over to the Interbay P-Patch Community Garden for a tour of colorful gardens with a view of the Olympic mountains in the background. (P.s. Keep you eye out for pick-able blackberries along the way).

The Romantic Walk: Begin at the Comstock Grande Dame and make your way down the “kissing” staircase just a hop and a skip away from Queen Anne Avenue.

Back in February True did a longer piece about Queen Anne’s hidden stairways for the Seattle Times. Read that story here.

For a hand-drawn (and waterproof!) map of Queen Anne’s historic stairways, check out the “Map of the (Oft) Pedestrian Public Stairs of Queen Anne Hill”, created by Thomas Horton, an architect and cartographer who lives on Queen Anne Hill. You can pick one up at Queen Anne Books for $5, or order it online from the Queen Anne Historical Society.