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All the United States Washington Seattle Center of the Universe Sign

Center of the Universe Sign

Residents of Fremont in Seattle have considered it the center of the universe since the 1970s.

Seattle, Washington

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Rachael
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With a building in the background   daveyin/CC BY SA 2.0
The sign is occasionally refurbished   Joe Mabel/CC BY SA 3.0
The Center of the Universe Sign   rachael1006 / Atlas Obscura User
It points in all directions   Seattle Municipal Archives/CC BY SA 2.0
Center of the Universe, 8/8/2020   melonary / Atlas Obscura User
  Aty Trocious / Atlas Obscura User
Sign (March 2024)   Joe from Bellingham / Atlas Obscura User
  davidklein23 / Atlas Obscura User
  MikeInSanFrancisco / Atlas Obscura User
  Aty Trocious / Atlas Obscura User
  Aty Trocious / Atlas Obscura User
Taipei is in there!   MikeInSanFrancisco / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Since no one can absolutely prove that it is not, a group of scientists in a bar reasoned in 1991 that Fremont, a neighborhood of Seattle, is as good a Center of the Universe as any. A guidepost was put up that year to indicate as much, and help passersby find the rest of the area, and universe

The sign is on a traffic island at the intersection of North Fremont Avenue and North 35th Street, which residents of Fremont have considered to mark the center of the universe since the early 1970s. In 1994, the Metropolitan King County Council proclaimed it officially, in a rather poetic way.

Some of the justifications for this official proclamation include Fremont’s thriving artistic scene (one of its nicknames is “The Artistic Republic of Fremont”), the presence of a troll under one of its bridges (a sculpture), its history of community activism, the fact that the people once voted to secede from Seattle at a fair, and the fact that it has its own port, school, theatre, and outdoor cinema.

The Center of the Universe Sign helpfully directs passersby to many of the neighborhood’s colorful landmarks as well as a few faraway places. The Fremont attractions include the aforementioned bridge troll, Rapunzel (in the Fremont Bridge tower), Interurban (referring to a sculpture named “Waiting for the Interurban”), Fremont Mischief Distillery, a controversial sculpture of Lenin, and the Sunday Market.

For those in Fremont looking to travel beyond the neighborhood, the sign also points towards Taiwan, Rio de Janeiro, the Louvre, and the Guggenheim. And for the even more ambitious, there are arrows pointing in the directions of the North Pole, the Milky Way and the Lost City of Atlantis. Finally, the sign points to "Noogie," cleverly indicated as “TOP of HEAD.”

Update as of November 2018: The sign is missing, but there are plans to replace it. 

Update as of August 2020: The sign has been replaced.

Related Tags

Signs Seattle Art Trolls

Know Before You Go

The Center of the Universe Sign is on a traffic island, and there isn't much place to stand, as there are bushes all around the sign. 

Community Contributors

Added By

rachael1006

Edited By

bwilcock1014, melonary, AaronNetsky, MikeInSanFrancisco...

  • bwilcock1014
  • melonary
  • AaronNetsky
  • MikeInSanFrancisco
  • davidklein23
  • Aty Trocious
  • Joe from Bellingham
  • joeypesto

Published

May 26, 2017

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Sources
  • https://fremont.com/about/centeruniverseguidepost/
  • http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1404
  • http://www.livedreamdiscover.com/fremont-seattle-the-center-of-the-universe/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont,_Seattle
  • http://www.sillyamerica.com/blog/fremont-the-center-of-the-universe/
  • https://www.google.com/maps/place/Center+of+the+Universe+Signpost/@47.6505109,-122.3520598,17z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x549015073477d10f:0x3303b9da4059cdd3!2sN+35th+St+%26+Fremont+Pl+N,+Seattle,+WA+98103!3b1!8m2!3d47.6505109!4d-122.3498711!3m4!1s0x0:0xf21b35c57c714819!8m2!3d47.6505094!4d-122.35008
  • https://fremontmischief.com/fremont-quirky-lively-and-very-popular/
Center of the Universe Sign
3427 Fremont Pl N
Seattle, Washington
United States
47.650399, -122.350208
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