Ordinarily I only run on the UW campus on weekends (those kids don’t need that visual of me in shorts as they make their way to and from class.) But since the students are on spring break, it’s our first day in the seventies, and the cherry blossoms are in bloom I thought I’d take the opportunity to run through the campus on a weekday with my phone and snap a few pictures along the way. Come along!
Coming into campus from the west the first thing you encounter is a statue of the state’s namesake. Originally the name of the territory (and, later, the state) was going to be Columbia as in the river but a congressman from Kentucky (Richard Stanton) thought that would be too easily confused with the capitol so, in quite the logic leap, they settled on Washington instead. Columbia is too confusing but Washington isn’t? It’s the only state named after a president.
The county where the university resides has a similar ham-handed name. Originally it was King County, named after William King, vice president under Millard FIllmore. But, in the category of pesky facts that get in the way, he was a slave owner. In 2005 the legislation waved their magic wand and it became King County as in Martin Luther King.
The campus was originally in downtown Seattle but relocated to its current location (north of downtown) as the student population grew. (The university tried to sell the original land but couldn’t and, as Seattle grew, it became a significant source of income for the university). Eventually it took over the land that was used for the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition in 1909 (kind of a pseudo World’s Fair). The current location, on the the shores of Lake Washington, is also extremely valuable land. For instance, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz have all lived off of Lake Washington.
The center of the campus is the Central Plaza, more commonly known as Red Square due to the red bricks. On a normal school day this would be bustling with students. On this day, mostly me!
As I was taking this picture a lady scurried by with her son in a scooter. The son turned to her and asked, “Is that a castle?” No, it’s a library. It’s my favorite building on campus, and, back when I was employed, I would sometimes go there to work, hoping to sop up some of that college student enthusiasm. It has that classic smell of college libraries that I would describe as thousands of books that haven’t been opened for decades and decades.
One of the classic photo-ops on the campus is Drumheller Fountain just off of Red Square. On a clear day you can see Mount Rainier in the background (if you squint you can see it in my picture). Fun fact: the mountain is “out” (visible from Seattle) less than 100 days of the year. So if you came to Seattle as a tourist and saw the mountain – you won!!
Of course this time of year the ultimate photo-op location is The Quad. There is even a webcam if you want to check the status of the cherry blossoms. Any other time of the year I run through the quad in blissful isolation but this time of year its best avoided unless you enjoy serpentining around photographers.
These trees have kind of a fuzzy provenance. Japan donated some cherry trees to Seattle’s arboreum and, when construction cut into the arboreum, some cherry trees were relocated to the campus. It’s assumed these are those trees but there isn’t a direct paperwork connection. In 2014 Japan donated an additional 32 trees.
As you might suspect, there is a significant Microsoft presence on the campus. For instance, these two buildings are adjacent to each other. Bill Gates’ parents also were benefactors to the University; one of the roads through the campus is named after Mary Gates.
The football stadium. Sits empty all but six or seven days in the fall but when it’s used, it rocks. Certainly would be on the short list of the most beautiful college football stadiums in the country, with its cantilevered roofs, overlooking both Lake Washington and Mount Rainier.
Last year the football team finished second in the NCAA championships. This year? Probably not so much.
Another sport the University of Washington takes seriously is rowing. Their team is usually among the two or three best in the nation and, in 1936, was the best in the world (see The Boys in the Boat.). They have a huge center to house the equipment behind the football stadium and on the waters of Lake Washington.
When I first moved to Seattle I tried rowing but it didn’t stick. For one thing it was a logistical nightmare to try to get eight people’s schedules to align for practice and for another I don’t think I have the world’s best inner ear and I found riding in reverse disconcerting.
Adjacent to the rowing center behind the stadium is the Union Bay Natural Area. It’s a great place to walk and for birding, particularly waterfowl. Very likely to see some exotic birds during migratory season. There is an osprey nest too but, as of this day, currently unoccupied. In other years I enjoyed running past it and have the osprey look at me menacingly from above!
The picture on the right is of the 520 floating bridge. And, yes, it’s a bridge that floats. One trip over it on a windy day and you would certainly know it’s floating! The bigger building on the right was Amazon’s headquarters until they grew out of it. If you hear the legend of Jeff Bezos’ door desk, that’s where it was.
And with that, your intrepid slow runner / tour guide signing off.
