North College Park, Seattle

Licton Springs or North College Park is a neighborhood in the informal Northgate district of North Seattle. It is bounded by Interstate 5 to the east, beyond which is Maple Leaf neighborhood and the Northgate Mall; Aurora Avenue N (SR 99) to the west, beyond which is Greenwood; N 85th Street to the south, beyond which is Green Lake, and N Northgate Way to the north, beyond which is Haller Lake.

Licton Springs is both a residential neighborhood and a natural spring at the north end of Licton Springs Park, which has a long history as both a unique recreational spot and a commercial crossroads. The neighborhood, wedged between the busy corridors of Interstate 5 and Aurora Avenue, takes its name from Liq'tid (LEEK-teed) or Licton, the Lushootseed (Whulshootseed) Coast Salish word for the reddish mud of the springs—. The Dkh^w’Duw’Absh, People of the Inside and Xacuabš, People of the Large Lake, Lushootseed (Skagit-Nisqually) Coast Salish native people had used the springs area as a spiritual health spa since the area was populated after the last glacial period (c. 8,000 BCE—10,000 years ago). In the 1850s, the Dkh^w’Duw’Absh and Xacuabš became the Duwamish tribe of today.

Seattle pioneer David Denny built a summer cabin near the springs around 1870. The natural spring fed Green Lake before it was capped and drained to the Metro sewer system after it became contaminated by residential development (1920, 1931). The Olmsted Brothers designed a park for Licton Springs, as part of a grand streets and parks plan for Seattle (1930s), but this park was never implemented. A park does exist today (where Woodlawn Avenue curves to connect with N 95th Street) in which the spring is located. In the mid-1960s restoration began with bond issues and increasing volunteer assistance, resulting in a small pond and natural wetland vegetation as well as urban park amenities. A Native American presence continues in the neighborhood through the Indian Heritage School at Wilson-Pacific. This school hosts frequent Indian Pow Wows and spectacular wall murals by Indian artist Andrew Morrison.

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