‘Secret Seattle’ explores tiny pieces of the city to tell a big story

One of the oldest fire hydrants in Seattle is in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. (Feliks Banel / KIRO radio)

Bricks, sidewalk stamps, old fire hydrants – most of us walk past these objects every day without stopping to look at them or to think about them. But that could change for readers of a new book by a popular local Instagramer, which is all about exploring these smaller and often overlooked aspects of Seattle’s history and discovering the stories hidden within.

Secret Seattle: An Illustrated Guide to the City’s Offbeat and Overlooked History is one of the most interesting local history books published in the Pacific Northwest in years, and it’s likely a holiday hit for anyone with even a passing interest in Seattle’s history and culture.

Author Susanna Ryan grew up on Shoreline and moved to Seattle a decade ago. Even before the pandemic, she liked to take long walks through different neighborhoods and carefully observe the nooks and crannies of the city at ground level. Ryan is also an illustrator and started posting on Instagram in 2017 to show off her drawings of quirky things she found in Seattle’s neighborhoods.

The popularity of Ryan’s drawings and observations led to a book published two years ago called Seattle Walk Report: An Illustrated Walking Tour through 23 Seattle Neighborhoods.

Like that earlier book, Secret Seattle has a certain quirk, but if you enjoy noticing things and learning the stories behind the little things that most people overlook, the book will speak to you. You can flip through it, jump around, and read short sections about certain things you can see – if you just take the time to look down.

For example, if you’re ever on a sidewalk and see barely legible letters carved into the concrete – like Susanna Ryan walking through Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood a few days ago – it’s likely a “sidewalk stamp” from some long-established construction company .

“It’s like a little business card,” said Ryan. “It’s a job well done. You know, ‘I paved this whole sidewalk and now I’m stamping my name on it.’ It’s just cool to see the little cement patchwork there. “

The name on this Beacon Hill sidewalk is “ND Johnson”. This isn’t a company Ryan is familiar with, but in her research on other names, she says that most of the Seattle sidewalk brands date from 1900 to 1910, the Seattle neighborhoods we know today really took shape.

“Some cobblestone just got hers a hundred years ago [name stamper] in there and had no idea that a hundred years later we would be standing here and admiring it, ”said Ryan.

Bricks galore

A couple of blocks from that ND Johnson sidewalk stamp is a parking lane that’s partially paved with old brick – and the maker’s name is clearly visible on many of the old bricks. Ryan pointed out a brick labeled “Clayburn” which she says was made near Spokane, one labeled “Denny-Renton” and one labeled “Ballard.”

Susanna Ryan is very fond of old bricks.

“I could write a whole book on bricks and do all the research,” said Ryan. “It’s just breathtaking.”

Bricks are literally the building blocks of certain parts of society – buildings, streets, gutters, chimneys, and so on. The brick section in Secret Seattle goes into detail about the history and context of locally made bricks, but it is not an almanac of esoteric facts; there are cool stories about the origins of the designers and manufacturers who also trace the history of the city.

For example, this “Ballard” brick was made in a factory near what is now Carkeek Park, and the factory that made the Denny Renton copies – in the Taylor township of South King County – could be a quarter of a million Produce bricks per day. which in 1908 was more than any other brick factory in the United States.

It is the “closeness” and accessibility of this type of hyper-observational story that gets Ryan’s attention and stimulates her imagination.

“What really appeals to me is that it’s right here on a random street,” said Ryan, admiring the number and variety of bricks in the Beacon Hill parking lot. “You know, we’re not fancy anywhere, we’re not at a tourist destination, but here it’s like a tiny brick museum.”

“And that kind of story that you can see right in front of your eyes feels so much different than reading about it in a history book or having someone say, ‘Oh yeah, the Denny party came and blah-blah -bla ‘”Ryan continued. “It’s like it’s alive and it’s here and somehow those bricks have survived all these years to end up on that random street off Beacon Hill.”

“Nice things,” she added.

And the “nice stuff” highlighted in each section of Secret Seattle is illustrated by Susanna Ryan’s black and white line drawings – original works of art that, it could be argued, capture that special moment in the early 21st century better than any photograph.

“I can’t shade for my life,” said self-taught Ryan. “I could never draw the bowl of fruit in art class the way they wanted to. I’ve always had this particular style and it has really been refined over the years. But in a way, I feel like it’s like the ‘best fifth year in class’ style or something. “

“It’s not quite right, but it gets the point across well enough,” she noted.

Hydrants and beauty in everyday life

A few blocks east and down the hill from the Accidental Brick Museum is one of Susanna Ryan’s favorite hydrants – yes, you read that right, one of her favorite hydrants – all over town.

When the Vintage Street Survivor came into view, it was clear that even someone who considers themselves a keen observer of somber details and parts of old infrastructure would be amazed by this particular specimen – with its fluted sides that give it an almost neoclassical feel Its chipped and peeling dark green color and a generous rust patina give it a touch.

“It almost feels like a caricature of a fire hydrant, or looking up ‘fire hydrant’ in the dictionary, that would be the picture,” said Ryan. “It’s like your quintessential fire hydrant there. I just love it.”

What sets Susanna Ryan’s approach to old hydrants – or bricks, or whatever she studies – apart is her attention to details that would be commonplace without her curiosity, imagination and creativity. Where most people might not even notice a particular fire hydrant, Ryan sees a whole universe of backstories, of slightly twisted humanity – and even some good old-fashioned Seattle Process.

“When you think about everything you see in Seattle having all sorts of everyday meetings and memos and people discussing the merits of this fire hydrant over this fire hydrant, or whatever it is,” Ryan said. “It’s just fun to think about. We take it for granted, all these little things on our streets and don’t really realize the bureaucratic nightmare that created them. “

It’s a cliché these days to say that Seattle is changing or disappearing. It definitely is, but it has been true since 1851 – and thankfully some might say, especially those who appreciate the way Seattle seems to reinvent itself every generation or two. A city that is changing dramatically – but retains a core of its identity thanks to tangible aspects of its architecture and layout – is a city with a dramatic past, a dynamic present, and an unknown and exciting future.

And that’s all good, but how would Susanna Ryan feel if one day she visited that cool old fire hydrant and he was gone?

“I know nothing is forever, and I know hydrants aren’t the defining element that makes a city livable or whatever,” said Ryan.

But if it just went away, says Ryan, “she’d be a little sad about how unceremonious it was, not like I think we need a party to celebrate the end of this fire hydrant’s life or something.”

“It’s just a small change,” she clarified. “But the small details make up so much of what defines a city and the experiences of the people in its neighborhood and so on.”

Susanna Ryan is philosophical about Seattle and how her book could affect readers, no matter how old they are. Story, when truly connecting with an audience, can offer a strong mix of information, comfort, and discomfort – but hopefully inspiration as well.

“Everyone, depending on how old they are and how long they’ve been here, has a very different idea of ​​when good old Seattle was,” said Ryan. “It’s very different for everyone. My ‘Old Seattle’ is not my mother’s ‘Old Seattle’ and was not her mother’s ‘Old Seattle’. “

“Cities change and things change,” said Ryan. “I think it’s up to each generation to find what they find and what interests them and to promote this for the next group. Time goes by.”

Exhibition in Georgetown, details of the book signing

Secret Seattle: An Illustrated Guide to the Offbeat and Overlooked History of the City by Susanna Ryan is published by Sasquatch Books and is widely used by booksellers. Ryan will be signing copies of her books at an exhibition of her artwork at Fantagraphics Books in Georgetown on Saturday, August 14th at 5pm

You can hear Feliks on Seattle’s Morning News every Wednesday and Friday morning, read more about him here, and subscribe to the Resident Historian Podcast here. If you have a story idea, please send an email to Feliks here.