This Forgotten Bridge Once Made an Important Connection
Leschi Bridge was once an essential route for Seattle settlers
By Eva Seelye September 28, 2016
This article originally appeared in the October 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.
You’ve likely stumbled upon it, nearly concealed beneath the brush in Leschi Park, just south of Madrona, and dismissed it as another old, forgotten bridge.
But Leschi Bridge, named after Chief Leschi of the Nisqually tribe, was once part of a route that played a vital role in Seattle transportation, linking settlers along Lake Washington to what is now Pioneer Square. Originally, the route was a trail created by the early Nisqually tribe, and later was used as a logging road by white settlers. Eventually, the Seattle Railroad Company decided the trail was an ideal site for a cable car bridge, which it completed in 1884.
The steam-powered cable cars, appointed with stained glass and oil lamps, significantly decreased travel time from Lake Washington to downtown Seattle by transiting the original trail’s rough terrain and forest-covered ravines via the bridge’s high trestles. A portion of Leschi Bridge still arches over Lake Washington Boulevard; walkers use it to connect to nearby neighborhoods.
Sadly, the cable cars are no longer with us.
Follow Us
Studio Sessions: Jo Cosme
The Seattle-based multimedia artist and 2026 Neddy Award winner challenges the postcard version of Puerto Rico and centers the persistence of its people.
Jo Cosme knows how seductive a postcard can be. The Seattle-based Boricua (Puerto Rican) multimedia artist works across photography, installation, video, sound, and interactive elements to examine and pull apart how Puerto Rico is seen, sold, and misunderstood from the outside. Trained in photojournalism, with a BFA in photography from Puerto Rico School of Fine…
Seattle’s Drag Brunch Has History
The city’s Sunday shows started long before the mimosas got bottomless.
There was a time not too long ago, when drag performances—now a mainstay of Seattle’s queer scene—were kept under wraps. And when brunches, complete with singing and dancing queens dressed in dazzling drag as you sipped mimosas, weren’t a Sunday staple. During the 1940s and ‘50s, an era largely shaped by restrictive laws and bias…
Studio Sessions: Sangram Majumdar
Working at the confluence of history, culture, and various painting traditions, UW associate professor Sangram Majumdar is one of this year’s Neddy Artist Award winners.
Discover the art of UW professor Sangram Majumdar, a 2026 Neddy Artist Award winner. Learn about his inspiration and upcoming Seattle exhibition at Cornish.
Rearview Mirror: A Georgian Dinner, Sidewalk Sips, and One-of-a-Kind Clothing
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
A new life for old clothes To celebrate one year in its current studio, the FXRY—a clothing repair service available via in-person appointments, home pickup, or mail-in drop off—is dropping its first collection. A small batch of reworked pieces, Second Mark will feature 13 vintage barn jackets, cropped, chain-stitched, and renewed into a completely unique, one-of-one…