Columbia City is a neighborhood located in the southeastern ration of Seattle, Washington in the Rainier Valley district. It has a landmark-protected historic concern district and is one of the few Seattle neighborhoods in the freshen of a long records of ethnic and pension diversity.

The neighborhood’s main thoroughfares supervision north–south are Rainier Avenue S. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. The principal east–west thoroughfares are S. Alaska Street and S. Genesee Street. Mass transit includes Sound Transit’s Central Link open rail serve from the Columbia City station (approx. 15 minutes to downtown Seattle and 20 minutes to SeaTac airport).

The Place was later dense conifer forest, inhabited by the local Salish peoples, until the introduction of the Rainier Valley Electric Railway from Downtown Seattle in 1891. Owners of the electric railway bought forty acres, built a lumber mill, cleared the area for settlement, and promoted their town development below the name “Columbia” – named after Christopher Columbus. Three streets in the neighborhood have names of other famous explorers (a Columbia Street already existed Downtown): Ferdinand Street after Magellan, Hudson Street after Henry Hudson, and Americus Street after Amerigo Vespucci. Lots in 1891 were sold below a canvas tent as soon as the slogan “Columbia, Watch It Grow!” attached to the railway cars.

Columbia incorporated as “Columbia City” in January 1893. Annexation to the City of Seattle came May 3, 1907 next a petition by citizens to the City Council to Keep a special election upon the matter. Although foe to annexation had initially been mighty due to citizens’ desire for local control, the March 5 vote was overwhelming: 109-3 approving of annexation to Seattle.

In 1905, the newly renamed Seattle Renton & Southern Railway lengthy south to Renton. In 1912 the streetcar pedigree went bankrupt and was reorganized as the Seattle & Rainier Valley Railway. Its last govern was just after midnight on January 1, 1937. Meanwhile, Columbia City’s ambitions to become a seaport were thwarted gone the completion of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1917, which lowered Lake Washington by nine feet and caused Wetmore Slough to teetotal up. The former slough was used as a dump from 1941 to 1963, and is now Genesee Park.