If you’ve spent enough time walking in Columbia City, you may have noticed the faint traces of a former Metro bus stop on the east side curb of 37th Ave South between Hudson and Ferdinand Streets, just one block west of Rainier Avenue. In the late 1970s and continuing into the early 1980s, this ghost stop was once the mid-day and evening terminal of the 39 SEWARD PARK (which later became the 31 BEACON HILL/SEWARD PARK). During the peak hours, the 39 offered express service between Seward Park and downtown Seattle; but mid-day and evenings, this stop on 37th Ave. S. was the terminal of the 39 (or 31) route.
Columbia City hasn’t always been the thriving business and residential area that we see today. In the mid 1970s, Columbia City was considered a very dangerous neighborhood and most of the commercial spaces were boarded up and empty. But in 1978, Charles Royer became mayor of Seattle and he was determined to revitalize the Columbia City neighborhood. As part of the plan, route 39’s northern terminal was moved from Mt. Baker (where it connected to the 10 Mt. Baker) to Columbia City. The service to Columbia City apparently didn’t generate much ridership because by 1983 the terminal had been moved back to Rainier and Genesee. However, Metro’s curb paint has long outlasted the transit service.
Route 48 also had some trips that ended in Columbia City until 2009. Is the terminal the same or, if different, does it still have remnants?
The 48 terminal was a bit north of there on the other side of Rainier, at 38th & Oregon give or take a block.
When you got on the 48 northbound there, you’d start the trip by going *south* on Rainier for a couple of blocks before crossing over to MLK on Alaska.
Google Street View shows some very faded red and yellow paint still there on 37th between Oregon and Genesee.
The 48 did have a terminal at Rainier and Oregon Street, just north of the playfield on the north side of Oregon Street. The much reviled and utterly pointless 42 that ran for a couple of years after Link opened also used to terminate at Rainier and Oregon, too.,
oops, the 48 terminal was on the south side of Oregon Street, as was the 42 terminal. When the 39 (31) was shortened back to Rainier & Oregon it stopped on the north side of Oregon Street.