2013 U.S. Go Congress

http://fremont.com/

Not for the timid: Let your inner sprite come out to play in Seattle’s funky, creative neighborhood of Fremont. Fremont has always been a vague and mysterious place. Some of the old timers here will tell you there were troll sightings ever since the Aurora Bridge went up in ’32. Of course, now there’s plenty of sightings. It seems the Troll sculpture has made Fremont into a regular magnet for Trolls, especially at the summer solstice and Halloween.

According to reliable sources, Fremont lies in a special geophysical locale. Stay long enough and you too, will notice an odd gravitational pull, the inability to stay away, the overwhelming urge to return again and again.

In 1991, Fremont Scientists, after a careful, considered study of these affects, while at a local alehouse, with barely a slur or stumble, determined the Center of the Universe to be at the intersection of N Fremont Ave and 35th St N. Sometimes referred to as “The People’s Republic of Fremont” or “The Artists’ Republic of Fremont,” the neighborhood remains home to a controversial statue of Lenin. In addition to Lenin is the Fremont Troll, an 18-foot-tall (5 m) concrete sculpture of a troll crushing a Volkswagen Beetle in its left hand, created in 1990 and situated under the north end of the Aurora Bridge. The street running under the bridge and ending at the Troll was renamed Troll Avenue N. in 2005. In addition, signs throughout Fremont give such helpful advice as “Set your watch back five minutes” and “Throw your watch away.” Other landmarks include the Fremont Rocket, a Fairchild C-119 tail boom modified to resemble a missile, and the outdoor sculpture Waiting for the Interurban.

Since the early 1970s some Fremont residents have been referring to their neighborhood as “The Center of the Universe” (which also appears on a large “Welcome” sign. An unofficial motto “De Libertas Quirkas” (“Freedom to be Peculiar”) appears in brochures and websites about the area.