Loyal Way NW

Like Loyal Avenue NW, this street was named by Edward B. Cox, Harry Whitney Treat (1865–1922), and Treat’s wife, Olive Marion Graef Treat (1869–1945) in the 1907 plat of Loyal Heights. The streets and the subdivision were named after Loyal Graef Treat Nichols (1906–2004), the Treats’ newborn daughter.

Loyal Way NW begins at 28th Avenue NW and NW 80th Street and goes just over ⅓ of a mile northwest to 32nd Avenue Northwest and NW 85th Street, following the route of the Loyal Electric Street Railway that Treat built in 1907.

Loyal Graef Treat, Seattle, circa 1920
Loyal Graef Treat, circa 1920. Courtesy of MOHAI, McBride & Anderson Collection, 1974.5923.47.

Loyal Avenue NW

Loyal Avenue NW, named by Edward B. Cox, Harry Whitney Treat (1865–1922), and Treat’s wife, Olive Marion Graef Treat (1869–1945) in the 1907 plat of Loyal Heights, was named, as was the subdivision and Loyal Way NW, after the Treats’ newborn daughter, Loyal Graef Treat Nichols (1906–2004). It connects Golden Gardens Drive NW to View Avenue NW and is just over 850 feet long.

Priscilla Van Sickler and Loyal Nichols at the Olympic Riding and Driving Club, Seattle, 1932
Loyal Graef Treat Nichols (right) and her elder sister, Priscilla Grace Treat Van Sickler, at the Olympic Riding and Driving Club, Seattle, 1932

View Avenue NW

It’s reasonable to name a street for its view: Lakeview Boulevard E, Fairview Avenue N, University View Place NE, Seaview Avenue NW, SW City View Street, and S Bayview Street are some examples in Seattle. Better, to my mind, is naming a street after the thing being viewed: Constance Drive W, Sunset Avenue SW, Cascadia Avenue S, to name a few. Worse? Those faux-French or faux-Spanish names like Viewmont Way W, Montavista Place W, Lakemont Drive NE, etc.

But given the power of naming bestowed on platters of subdivisions, why would Edward B. Cox and Harry Whitney Treat, and Treat’s wife, Olive Marion Graef Treat, name something simply “View Avenue,” as was done in the 1907 plat of Loyal Heights? I think it and W View Place must be tied for the most boring street name in Seattle, but am willing to consider other contenders for the title.