Land Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge that this project focuses on areas that are on the unceded ancestral lands of the Coast Salish People and the Duwamish People, both past and present. We honor with gratitude the land itself, the Duwamish Tribe, and the Coast Salish Tribes.
The History of Capitol Hill
When colonists began to settle in Seattle in the late 1800s, they began to change the landscape in and around the downtown area. Capitol Hill was originally forested, with one road to the site of a cemetery at the top. Years later, Seattle's developers used the area for logging, providing them with economic benefits and more clear land to use. It should be noted that Capitol Hill was called Broadway Hill until 1901. The reasons behind the name change are unknown. The neighborhood has evolved alongside Seattle, but Capitol Hill has shown a consistent pattern of liberal movements throughout the years. Some consider it to be the birthplace of Seattle's liberal identity, as the area was key in the 1960s civil rights movement and the LGBTQ+ rights movement. The most recent example was the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, better known as the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), where residents and protestors created a police-free zone after the murder of George Floyd.
Demographics
On Capitol Hill, there are many different types of people. According to U.S. Census Bureau data and estimates, about 48.1% of households in the neighborhood belong to families, while the other 51.9%, non-family households is primarily made up of people living alone. With its proximity to many of the college campuses in the area and 42.2% of the population in school being in college or graduate school, it is not surprising that there would be a lot of people living on their own. Over 55% of people living on Capitol Hill have a bachelor's degree or higher, and over 90% have a high school degree or higher. Over 59% of people who live on Capitol Hill identify as white, and over 16% identify as Black. This disparity comes from racist actions in the 1920s to prevent Black people from moving to Capitol Hill, and its effects are still felt today.
It should be noted that this information comes from the 2013 U.S. Census Bureau data, so it is a bit different today, but the overall trends have stayed pretty much the same. For example, even though the ratio of people who identify as white to those who identify as BIPOC may be slightly different, there is still an overwhelming presence of white residents.