Backroad Odyssey : Travel, Van Life & Lost Locations
Traveling America's backroads, road trip experts - Noah and Noodles - explore fascinating locations overlooked while traveling.
Living out of a van, they unravel the - often shocking - story behind each neglected story or location.
If you love travel, exploration and unique locations - join us on the road!
Backroad Odyssey : Travel, Van Life & Lost Locations
The Fremont Troll - Seattle's Mysterious Resident (Revisit)
In the bustling metropolis of Seattle, Washington - a curious resident claims the shadows beneath Aurora Bridge ...
Those who dare to venture into its liar speak of its sheer size, stern gaze and possessive nature.
But! Few can tell you the reason for the trolls residency.
Noodles and I revisit our exploration into the thrilling origin of The Fremont Troll.
Works Cited:
https://www.seattletimes.com/life/a-brief-history-of-the-fremont-troll-a-menace-that-evokes-a-smile/
https://seattle.curbed.com/2019/6/4/18650083/fremont-bridge-troll-history-location
https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/type0122e.html
https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/All-About-the-Seattle-Fremont-Troll-and-How-to-Find-It
https://wedgwoodinseattlehistory.com/2015/05/01/history-of-the-fremont-neighborhood-in-seattle/
https://historylink.org/File/1320
https://visitseattle.org/neighborhoods/fremont-wallingford/
https://fremontartscouncil.org/trolloween
https://seattle.curbed.com/2019/6/4/18650083/fremont-bridge-troll-history-location
https://themonumentous.com/exploring-the-economic-and-cultural-impact-of-the-fremont-troll/
Noah and Noodles here!
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Welcome to the Van. It's Noah here with my dog and co-host, noodles the Woodle. We are sitting here very excited to bring back the story of the Fremont Troll, a massive cement troll that claims the shadows underneath Seattle's Aurora Bridge. It's an interesting location with an even more interesting backstory. Noodles and I paid him a visit last September. I hope you find value in our revisit today as we pave the way for additional interview episodes, further deep dives, as well as some casual conversations here and there that I hope you'll enjoy. All very exciting and just around the corner, but for now, let's journey to the streets of Seattle, bypass the markets, cafes and venues and explore what lurks deep in the shadows. Safe travels, losing down the street. I wonder where this road would lead. Wonder where this road would lead. So many possibilities. Care to share what you think. Oh, noodle Dolls, what do you see? Backroad Odyssey. In the bustling metropolis of Seattle Washington, a curious resident claims the shadows beneath Aurora Bridge. Those who dare to venture below the bridge more accurately, those that survive to tell the tale venture below the bridge More accurately. Those that survive to tell the tale speak of his sheer size, stern gaze and possessive nature, but few can tell you the reason for his residency and that, my friends, is a story worth telling. This is the story of the Fremont Troll. Fremont Troll, our fable, begins with the children's story the Three Billy Goats, gruff, a Norwegian tale first translated into English in 1859. It is the primary inspiration for the troll's residency in the dark under the bridge. In the event you've not heard this story, let me refresh your memory. Once upon a time there were three billy goats who were to go up to the hillside to make themselves fat, and the name of these three was Gruff. On the way up was a bridge over a cascading stream they had to cross, and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll with eyes as big as saucers and a nose as long as a poker. So first of all came the youngest, bill Goat Gruff, to cross the bridge. Trip trap, trip, trip trap, trip trap With the bridge. Who's that tripping over my bridge, roared the troll. Oh, it is only I, the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff, and I'm going to the hillside to make myself fat, said the Billy Goat with such a small voice. Now I'm coming to gobble you up, said the troll. Oh, no, pray, don't take me. I'm too little that I am, said the Billy Goat, Wait a bit till the second Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger. Well, be off with you, said the troll. Wait a bit till the second Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger. Well, be off with you, said the troll.
Speaker 1:A little while after came the second Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge. Trip trap, trip trap, trip trap went the bridge. Who's that tripping over my bridge? Roared the troll. Oh, it's the second Billy Goat Gruff and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat, said the billy goat, who hadn't such a small voice. Now I'm coming to gobble you up, said the troll. Oh no, don't take me, wait till the big billy goat gruff comes. He's much bigger. Very well, be off with you, said the troll.
Speaker 1:But just then came the big billy goat gruff. Trip trap, trip trap, trip trap went the bridge, for the billy goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under him. Who's that tramping over my bridge? Roared the troll. It's I, the big billy goat gruff, said the billy goat, who had an ugly horse voice of his own. Now I'm coming to gobble you up, roared the troll. Well, come along, I've got two spears and I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears. I've got besides two curling stones and I'll crush you to bits, body and bones. That was what the big billy goat said. And then he flew at the troll and poked his eyes out with his horns and crushed him to bits, body and bones, and tossed him into the cascade. And after that he went up to the hillside. There the billy goats got so fat that they were scarcely able to walk home again. And if the fat hasn't fallen off them, why? They're still fat. And so snip, snap, snout. This tale's told out. Snap, snap, snout. This tale's told out.
Speaker 1:This is the tale that inspired the sculpting of the 18-foot, 13,000-pound Fremont Troll. But what's the context? Why the Fremont neighborhood and what other events and circumstances prompted the Troll's creation? Noodles and I investigate. We are in the van now. We passed the troll something like five times. We're trying to find parking. Was not expecting it, but the troll is extremely popular. Even blocks down the road you can see people walking towards the troll. I've had a day or two to take in this specific neighborhood, not popular with artists, students, young professionals, largely, but not entirely, in the tech industry, but it wasn't always this way. In fact, the story of this neighborhood of Fremont itself is as intimately tied with the sculpting of the troll as the story that inspired the sculpting itself. All right, I do need to focus and find a parking space. Here's to hoping.
Speaker 1:Fremont is founded on a land development located along a body of water that links Lake Washington, eventually, to the Pacific Ocean. The neighborhood was, at its inception, entirely separate from Seattle. It dealt with its own issues, maintained. Thank you, the namesake for the Trolls' future neighborhood. Their efforts to spark development in the neighborhood are successful. In 1891, the town is annexed to Seattle. Bridges are built, a successful sawmill thrives, canals are dug and locks fostering the transport of goods are finished. The Fremont area, then, is associated for decades with their successful sawmill, plentiful warehouses and a general population of working-class folk.
Speaker 1:But growth and progress can only be maintained for so long. Construction of the George Washington Bridge, most commonly referred to as the Aurora Bridge, in 1932 marks the start of a slow decline in economic growth in Fremont. The sawmill closes, rail and trolley services lose popularity and cease service, and the neighborhood develops a reputation as hazardous or otherwise unstable. Until that is, the 1960s baby, when low rents brought about by this reputation attract students, artists and those generally looking to distance themselves from the commotion of the city. For decades this trend continues. This influx of young artists and similar minds organize Sunday flea markets, plan events and grow a sense of Fremont frivolity and community that seeps into the very identity of the neighborhood.
Speaker 1:Across the water from downtown Seattle who's that? Tripping over my bridge roared the troll, lord the Troll. Change comes often and fast. In the 80s and 90s, a tech boom in the city explodes. Companies look for space and Fremont, with its low cost of living and room for development, begins to look incredibly attractive to companies like Adobe Systems, who move around 500 employees across the water into a 300,000 square foot building on the canal. Other tech companies follow, tempted again by the low rent and the promise of space. This in turn boosts local businesses, invites visitors from downtown and elsewhere and predictablyably increases rent. What happens, then, to these artists, students and longtime residents of Fremont? Now I'm coming to gobble you up, said the troll.
Speaker 1:We found parking. It's maybe a 10-minute walk to the troll Each time I drove past. Yeah, I got to see the troll, but I also got to see people interacting with the troll, people walking to the troll, taking pictures with it, climbing it, and nearly every car that's parked was there to see the troll. And this idea kind of brings me to my next question. Knowing the general context of the neighborhood, its history, what prompted the creation of this troll in the first place, both in general and then specifically under the Aurora Bridge? I don't know. At least it's a nice day out Noodles and I don't mind walking.
Speaker 1:Of course there is resistance by longtime residents to increasing rent and the influx of businesses, and so the copious amount of artists in the neighborhood, partly in response to encroaching tech companies and partly to reclaim the sense of Fremont community and artistry, create the Fremont Arts Council in 1979. Arts Council in 1979. The idea behind this council is to commission and create art in the Fremont neighborhood that will solidify a sense of community, a collective focal point, through art Projects like Waiting for the Interroban, an aluminum sculpture of six people waiting for an old streetcar, are created, acknowledging the neighborhood's past while providing points of interest in the present. That's the idea, and these art commissions often focus on areas that require attention. One of these areas is a space beneath the Aurora Bridge, a location long littered with garbage, exposed needles and otherwise completely ignored. There is a growing sense at the time, because this area under the bridge is located in the heart of a residential area and very visible that something has to be done. On the way up was a bridge over a cascading stream they had to cross and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll with eyes as big as saucers and a nose as long as a poker. To clean up the area under this bridge, the Fremont Art Council organizes an art competition. Hundreds of designs are submitted and the winner is to be picked not by a panel of people but and this is really important by popular vote. The neighborhood itself will choose what to do with the space. An idea put forth by Steve Bedanez and four artists wins the vote. It's decided the area under Aurora Bridge will house a concrete troll inspired by a children's tale. The end result, made possible by three months of work by Steve the artist, an endless stream of local volunteers and a $20,000 grant won by the Fremont Art Council.
Speaker 1:From Seattle, who had recently started the Neighborhood Matching Fund, is a new resident chosen by Fremont itself. A single, shiny metal eye looks out across the water. Messy hair frames a contorted face. One of two gangly, gargantuan hands crushes a Volkswagen. There he lies beneath the bridge watching, waiting Of all of the options submitted. Why did the community itself choose a troll?
Speaker 1:The troll is in front of me now. I've been here for 20 minutes or so. Right away you don't realize how big it's going to be. Even driving past it, you don't know until you're right up next to it. Like I said earlier, there's people climbing up, there's people touching it, taking photos. But what strikes me most is where this troll is, looking Right across the water, under this massive bridge towards downtown Seattle. So here's some questions why was it built? Why was it built this way, and what does the troll mean in general? To start answering this, I think you only have to listen to one fact that I stumbled upon across my research From 1988 to 1990, real estate values doubled in Fremont. The Fremont Troll was completed in 1990.
Speaker 1:The answer, then, in my view, lies where we started with a children's tale. Well, be off with you, said the troll. On the surface, the three billy goats, gruff is a story about greed. If you continually want more and more, in the end you'll be worse off. You'll never be satisfied.
Speaker 1:The troll could have easily gone after the first goat or the second, and so the Fremont troll made during a time of rapid change and uncertainty is both a caution against greed and a warning to those always looking for the next thing, the newest development. At the same time, however, the troll transformed a neglected area, is visited by thousands and is intimately now associated with the neighborhood of Fremont. The troll, then, both initiates change and warns against its easy rushed implementation. Although it's based on a children's story, a simple moral against greed, the troll at its core seems to be promoting mindful moderation, thoughtful change, thoughtful action, compassionate change, compassionate action. If you desire more, think about the implications of getting it. The new businesses and young professionals now exist in collaboration with the artistic legacy of the neighborhood. Each aspect of the community cohabitates above the looming troll beneath the bridge. The next time you drive across the Aurora Bridge to or from the storied neighborhood of Fremont, know that its troll lies stoically beneath eyes across the waters, fremont itself to its back and with that snip snap snout, this tale's told out it's Noah here.
Speaker 1:I hope you enjoyed our revisit today. Truly a spot to visit and a story to be heard. I hope our friend the troll is doing well. Next week we explore Lookout Mountain detail the fabled battle above the clouds that occurred along its steep slopes and continue our weekly episodes, including, as I said in the beginning, interviews, which is very exciting for the show, and more varied episodes soon to follow. Look forward to that. Otherwise, be good to each other. Where to next? Well, you know, lookout Mountain Cheers.
