Renfrew Report… What is the “Greenwood Triangle?”
If I had a 7 iron I could easily hit a golf ball from the front of my office at AUM Real Estate to the Greenwood Triangle. It’s kind of a quirky patch of grass and you may wonder, what is it? Or maybe a better question is what was it?
🌳 What Is the Greenwood Triangle?
The Greenwood Triangle is a small public green space at 304 NW 55th Street in Seattle, situated in the Phinney Ridge / Greenwood area. Today, it appears as a grassy triangle nestled between streets — but it has deeper historical roots:
The triangle is a remnant of a much larger park that once existed in the late 1800s.
Back in 1895, the land was deeded for park use when the area was still part of the City of Ballard — before Ballard was annexed into Seattle in 1907.
Over time, urban development and street changes reduced the original park to the small triangle of lawn that remains today.
This brief green space serves as a tiny reminder of the area’s early open-space planning and neighborhood layout before rapid growth filled in most public land with residential and commercial buildings.
🏙️ Greenwood & Phinney Ridge: A Streetcar Neighborhood
To understand the triangle, it helps to look at the larger historic context of the surrounding area:
✨ Early Beginnings
The area now known as Greenwood was originally called Woodland — largely unpopulated, soggy land with a cemetery in the late 1800s.
In 1907, former Washington governor Henry McBride purchased and platted part of this land for residential development, renaming it the Greenwood Park Addition.
🚋 Growth Through Streetcars
Development accelerated with the arrival of streetcar lines connecting Greenwood and Phinney Ridge to downtown Seattle and beyond. By 1909, the streetcar reached the city limits at North 85th Street, spurring commercial growth along Greenwood Avenue and Phinney Ridge.
This pattern made the neighborhood a classic example of a streetcar suburb — a once-outlying residential area that became urbanized thanks to early transit lines.
📍 Neighborhood Identity & Culture
The Greenwood and Phinney Ridge areas today:
Are known for independent shops, eclectic restaurants, coffee houses, and community spaces anchored around Greenwood Avenue North and North 85th Street.
Host longstanding community traditions like the Greenwood Car Show and the Greenwood Seafair Parade, drawing locals together for annual celebrations.
Share community events and planning between the two neighborhoods, and locals often refer to the combined area as Greenwood/Phinney, reflecting blurred boundaries and close collaboration.
🏞️ Green Space Then and Now
Though only a tiny slice remains as the Greenwood Triangle, the area’s parkland heritage has expanded with newer acquisitions and improvements nearby:
Greenwood Park — a larger, modern park developed through community involvement and city acquisitions — now provides play areas, lawns, courts, and open space for the neighborhood.
Additional green space projects like Alice Ball Park continue to increase recreational areas and pedestrian connectivity in the Greenwood/Phinney urban village.
