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The lowest of four bridges spanning the Lake Washington Ship Canal, this connects Fremont to residential Queen Anne and two main arterials to downtown. Because of the bridge’s low clearance, it faces frequent openings from sailboat, motor yacht, or industrial vessels. Neon art adorns a portion of the span, in the form of a golden-haired Rapunzel and her locks cascading down from the bridgeman’s tower.

Frozen in time, Richard Beyer’s celebrated 1979 cast aluminum sculpture – five human forms and a dog with a human face – preside at Fremont’s busiest intersection where a community trolley once stopped. Legend has it that the dog’s likeness belongs to Arman Napoleon Stepanian, an activist-hero who sparked the recycling movement 30 years ago. The work pokes fun at modern humanity’s ennui. It also represents one of Seattle’s earliest public art installations.

Seattle’s colorful past is on view at History House where historians interpret and preserve the heritage of the city’s distinct neighborhoods. Exhibits in the main gallery complement a three-sided, sepia-tone wall mural that depicts 100 years of Seattle history, encompassing the arts, technology, and industry. Peruse the pictorial history of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (see The Locks & The Locks). Other features include a sculpture garden and a gift shop.

A boater’s dream, the small passenger-only steamer plies the waters of Lake Union from its north shore in Fremont to the grounds along the southern shore near downtown during the July Wooden Boat Festival. A labor of love for captain, Larry Kezner, the ferry is strictly for sightseeing cruises along Seattle’s Ship Canal and adjacent lakes.

Slovakian sculptor Emil Venkov found little interest in his 7-ton (6,350-kg), 25-ft (8-m) likeness of Russian revolutionary V.I. Lenin after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A visiting American, Lewis Carpenter, paid $13,000 for the work and had it shipped through the Panama Canal to his hometown near Seattle. After Carpenter died in 1994, Fremont artist and foundry owner Peter Bevis managed to have the bronze Lenin statue installed in the neighborhood. The incongruity of a Communist icon amidst flourishing shops and capitalist businesses is not lost on anyone. The statue remains a striking symbol that strives to put art before politics.

Two ivy-covered dinosaur topiaries, which had formerly decorated the lawn near the Pacific Science Center at Seattle Center, now grace Fremont’s narrow Ship Canal Park. To save them from extinction, History House and a group of Fremont artists purchased these in 1999 for $1. The mother, 66-ft (20-m) long, and young apatosauri are now sanctioned by the city and fully integrated into the crazy quilt of what is virtually a neighborhood-wide sculpture garden.

An icon of Fremont’s free spirit is a 15-ft (4.5-m) tall Volkswagen-eating troll created by Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter, and Ross Whitehead, after winning a national competition sponsored by the Fremont Arts Council, that in 1989 decided that public art was the best use for a dark space beneath a highway bridge. Though ugly, the troll’s location under the north end of Aurora Bridge means that it remains on the route of almost every visitor who walks or takes a tour bus.

A lovely landscaped strip not much wider than a stretch of the Burke-Gilman Trail (see Burke-Gilman Trail Features) attracts tourists all year round. Today, the park creates viewpoints along the Canal and several places to sit, play chess, picnic, and watch the world go by. Pedestrians don’t need to dodge speeding bicycles, however, since there is a separate gravel path for bi-peds.

Rain or shine, the Fremont Sunday Market has withstood the test of time, real estate development, and even lawsuits from neighboring businesses. Begun in 1990 to foster a pedestrian-friendly community and provide an outlet for artists and independent vendors to sell whatever they had to offer, the market hosts up to 200 booths of crafts, imported goods, furniture, food, and knick-knacks that defy description.

The trompe d’oeuil screen and curtains on a factory wall attract hundreds of attendees for campy feature films. It grew from a sparsely attended free affair to a popular summer weekend event that charges admission. Part old-fashioned American drive-in, part Fremont irreverence, people bring their own chairs or sofas and occasionally compete in film-related games between reels. The shows begin after sundown, but audiences begin arriving for the best seats by mid-afternoon.