12 Fun Seattle Facts: How Well Do You Know Your City?

Seattle is perhaps most well-known for the Space Needle and Starbucks, but there are many other quirks and unique features that make this city special. So whether you’re already local or you’re considering moving to the city, here are 12 facts about Seattle that you need to know.

1. There is a big troll living under one of Seattle’s bridges

The 18-foot-tall, 30-year-old concrete troll under the Aurora Bridge on N. 36th Street and Troll Avenue N. was made by artist Steve Badanes and his team during a 1990 art competition intended to revamp the area under the bridge. The troll is inspired by Billy Goats Gruff, and if you find him, you’ll see he’s crushing a Volkswagen Beetle under his hand.

2. More houseboats are located in Seattle than in any other city in the world

Houseboats are a big part of what makes Seattle such a unique and special place, and many people are willing to pay a premium to live on the water. The city is also home to the famous floating home from Sleepless in Seattle, which rests right on the banks of Lake Union.

3. Pike Place Market was created in response to overpriced onions

Pike Place Market, which opened in 1907, is the oldest continuously operating farmer’s market in the country. The original Pike Place Market was created to combat the high prices of onions. In 1906, the city proposed the establishment of a public market where farmers could sell their products directly to consumers, thus avoiding the high prices charged by intermediaries. This market became known as Pike Place Market and is now an iconic destination for both those visiting and living in Seattle.

4. The bronze pig and the flying fish of Pike Place Market have interesting backstories 

The bronze piggy bank in the middle of the market is named Rachel. She weighs 550 pounds and was named after a real 750-pound pig who won the 1985 Island County Fair. When it comes to the flying fish, the fishmongers at the Market got tired of going to the fish table each time a customer ordered a fish, so they started tossing them over the counter instead.

5. Despite the rain, Seattleites buy more sunglasses than people living in any other city in the world

Some of the reasons that contribute to this phenomenon may be: the need for protection against sun glare off wet roads; the Pacific Northwest’s unique lighting, as even when skies are overcast with gray clouds, the area still has a distinctive brightness; and the fact that locals in Seattle are always active, no matter the weather.

6. Seattle is home to the longest permanent floating bridge

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge is the world’s longest floating bridge, stretching 7,708.5 feet across Lake Washington in Seattle. Why do floating bridges exist? The answer has to do with Lake Washington’s difficult geographical location. The lake bed is too soft to support the piers of a conventional bridge. Another option would have been a suspension bridge, but that would require bridge towers as tall as Seattle’s Space Needle and would have been too expensive.

7. Places like Houston, New York, Atlanta, and Boston get more rainfall each year than Seattle does

Despite what many people think, it doesn’t rain all the time in Seattle. The city has days that are gray and slightly more drizzly than other places, but on average, the city only gets about 38 inches of rain per year.

8. Seattle was the first major American city to have a female mayor

Bertha Knight Landes was elected mayor of Seattle in 1926 and just six years after American women won the right to vote. She was the only female to serve as mayor of the city until Jenny Durkan assumed the office in 2017.

9. Seattle sits on top of an underground ghost town

The Great Seattle Fire of 1889 occurred on June 6 and changed the city forever. The fire started at 2:30 P.M. in a paint and woodwork shop and quickly spread, engulfing 100 acres of the business district and waterfront. After the great Seattle fire, many businesses were rebuilt in their original location. The street was elevated 22 feet, the water system and fire department were modernized, and wooden buildings were banned. You can now take an Underground Tour below to see the original city Seattle was built on.

10. The Space Needle was first designed on a cocktail napkin

In 1961, Edward E. Carlson sketched the Space Needle on a cocktail napkin as an inspiration for the 1962 World’s Fair. Thanks to the underground base extending up to 30 feet, and the structure built in just 400 days can withstand up to 200 mph of wind speed and 9.1 magnitude earthquakes.

11. The city is due for a major earthquake 

An earthquake with a magnitude between 6.8 and 9 is expected to hit Seattle in the next fifty years. The last time the Cascadia fault line erupted was in 1700.

12. Seattle is the birthplace of Starbucks

The original Starbucks first opened in 1971. The “original store” found in Pike Place Market has retained its original floors, fixtures, and counters, which makes it unique compared to Starbucks’ other 20,000-plus locations worldwide. For fans, there’s something special about being where it all began. 

If you want to avoid the line at the original location, you can go to Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood to check out the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. In addition to the location in Seattle (which opened in 2014), there are outposts in Shanghai, Milano, New York, Tokyo, and Chicago. The menu is quite different from a typical Starbucks, with single-origin coffees roasted on-site, freshly-made food and treats, and alcoholic beverages.

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