From Lakeside Cottages to Postwar Homes
The neighborhood takes its name from the plats that divided former Puget Mill Company land along Lake Washington. The land was subdivided in the 1920s, but houses were slow to follow, and until World War II many lake-view lots held simple vacation cottages instead of year-round homes.
After 1945, Cedar Park filled in as a single-family community. Stroll the streets today and much of what you see dates from the 1950s through the 1970s, which gives the whole neighborhood a consistent midcentury feel.
The School That Became an Art Studio, Then a School Again
Head to NE 135th Street and 37th Avenue NE to find Cedar Park Elementary, which opened in 1956. Falling enrollment closed it in 1981, though the city held on to the land and buildings. The space was then leased to Artwood Studios, an artists' enclave that called it home for 32 years.
By the time the school reopened in 2013, the building had housed artists longer than it had ever housed students. It came back as an option school built around expeditionary learning, a nontraditional approach to teaching.
Schools Serving the Area Today
Even with Cedar Park Elementary open again, neighborhood children are assigned elsewhere by default. Elementary students head south to John Rogers Elementary, middle schoolers attend Jane Addams Middle School, and high schoolers go on to Nathan Hale High School. If you are moving here with kids, confirm current assignments with Seattle Public Schools.
Getting Outside in Cedar Park
The Neighborhood Playground
West of the school building, the old schoolyard is now a small public play area that also goes by Cedar Park. It makes an easy short outing close to home for families with young kids. Learn more in our guide to the Cedar Park playground in Lake City.
The Burke-Gilman Trail
Hop on the Burke-Gilman Trail, which cuts through the neighborhood from NE 145th Street to NE 120th Street as it tracks the Lake Washington shore. Walking or biking it is the easiest way to take in Cedar Park, and the trail links this quiet corner to the wider trail network beyond.
