This street was created in 1905 as part of the Steel Works Addition to West Seattle by Albert C. Phillips. Originally Cityview Street, it formed a trio with Grandview Street and Bayview Street, which are today SW Hinds Street and SW Spokane Street, and was named for its view of Seattle, to the northwest across Elliott Bay.
SW City View Street begins at 35th Avenue SW as a driveway and foot path which becomes a paved street just before 34th Avenue SW and extends just beyond, about 325 feet in all. The right-of-way continues through a greenbelt, and the road picks up at again at SW Admiral Way, where it goes 500 feet east to end at 30th Avenue SW.
Born and raised in Seattle, Benjamin Donguk Lukoff had his interest in local history kindled at the age of six, when his father bought him settler granddaughter Sophie Frye Bass’s Pig-Tail Days in Old Seattle at the gift shop of the Museum of History and Industry. He studied English, Russian, and linguistics at the University of Washington, and went on to earn his master’s in English linguistics from University College London. His book of rephotography, Seattle Then and Now, was published in 2010. An updated version came out in 2015.
I was curious about SW Donald St because it’s so short and almost seems like it used to be driveway to the house I live in (basement apt), which was built in or around 1905. The 1 block long street doesn’t have any signs restricting parking but I have never seen anyone park there in my years here. It is however, a very well used street for people to get down to California Ave from Sunset. I live at 1303 44th Ave SW and I’m also curious if you know anything about who built this house, which must’ve been in the boonies back in the day. The views across Elliot bay and the sound must’ve been spectacular before all these other big houses were built, but it’s still quite majestic. I can see the Cascades from my basement apt.
Hi Amanda! Donald is a tricky one, because it appears to have been part of the massive 1907 renaming of West Seattle streets, and those types of ordinances never give reasons. It was Park Street in the original plat. If it had been Donald Street in the original plat and one of the landowners or their lawyers or in-laws had been named Donald… but unfortunately the reason for this name change is lost to time.
As for 1303 44th Avenue SW, though, we’re in luck! It’s a historic building, known as the Langdon House after its builders and first residents, William E. and Katherine Langdon. According to the city’s historical survey, William “was a self-employed miner, mining broker, and realtor.” For some reason they sold the place after living there not quite two years!