Seattle on Aurora Avenue - 1959

Aurora Avenue near Battery Street Tunnel, 1959, originally uploaded by Seattle Municipal Archives.

It may be black and white, but there's a whole lot to love in this photo if you're a car nut! Photographer would have been taking life into his own hands by standing between the north and southbound lanes here.

For those not familiar with the area, this photo was taken just north of Seattle's Denny Way on Aurora Avenue North; another name for Aurora in Highway 99, which was the main route going north and south before Interstate 5 was created (in this shot it would be another couple years before I-5 would be usable). This scene is looking south towards downtown, before 99 ducked into the Battery Street Tunnel under the city.

Nice piece of history in this shot is the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Globe sign in the background, still standing but now on a different building along the waterfront. Great stuff!