This history of Graham Hill Elementary School is taken from the second edition of Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, which includes histories of every school building used by the district since its formation around 1862. The original essay was written for the 2002 first edition by Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr, and updated for the 2024 edition by HistoryLink contributor Rita Cipalla.
Graham's Peninsula
The area where Graham Hill School is located was named after Walter Graham. Graham came from New York to Seattle in 1853 and at the age of 27 took up a claim along the shores of Lake Washington. His property included the uplands near Seward Park, which was called Graham’s Peninsula. In 1856, Graham built a home on the hillside and planted an apple orchard. He married Eliza Mercer, daughter of Thomas Mercer. Walter’s brother, David Graham, arrived in 1857 and became Seattle’s fifth schoolteacher. He married his former pupil and Eliza’s sister, Suzanna Mercer.
In 1865, Graham sold a portion of his land to Judge Everett Smith, who then donated one acre for a school. The first school near the top of Graham Hill was called Brighton School, opened in 1901. There was just a path up to the school from Rainier Avenue. The one-room schoolhouse held grades 1-3, while grades 4-5 were housed nearby in the Brighton Church. Brighton School was an attractive building with a columnar front porch and a well-lit classroom.
Brighton School was closed in 1905 when a new school with the same name on Holly Street opened. The older building later became known as Brighton Beach or “Little Brighton” in 1907-1908 when it operated as an annex to the larger school. It also served to ease overcrowding during World War I. The old schoolhouse was removed from the site in 1943 and the Seattle Parks Department acquired a 99-year lease for a playfield where the schoolhouse formerly stood.
As the population in the neighborhood grew, a school was needed at the site and the playfield lease was canceled. In September 1957, five portable buildings opened on the site for K-2 students. East Brighton, as it was called, operated once more as an annex to Brighton. In each successive year, another grade was added until the school became K-6 in fall 1961. By June 1960, the school was large enough to have its own principal. The name Graham Hill School was chosen by the community to commemorate Walter Graham and his farm. Plans began for construction of a new building on the property adjacent to the portables, now no longer adequate for the increasing enrollment.
New Construction
The new brick building was completed at the end of the 1960-1961 school year. The new school contained a library, administration and health unit, auditorium/lunchroom, gymnasium, play court, and service facilities. Located on a hillside, the building offered breath- taking views of Mount Rainier. The school featured two stories, each opening directly onto the grounds: the upper floor onto the street level and the lower floor onto the upper playground level.
Under the district’s desegregation plan, Graham Hill (K, 1-3) was paired with Northgate (K, 4-6) from 1978-1988. Thereafter Graham Hill became K-5. In 1991, the first district-sponsored Montessori program for pre-schoolers and grades K-5 was opened at Graham Hill.
In 2004, a three-story addition was built to house community spaces and provide enough capacity to remove all onsite portables and a Winnebago. The motorhome shell had been used as a temporary office and program space. The resulting 17,500-square-foot addition included a new library, computer room, childcare area, music room, four classrooms, offices, and support space. The existing building was modernized with new flooring, windows, and blinds, as well as modifications to the administration area. In 2005, after receiving a grant to improve the playground, Graham Hill added new play structures, landscaping, and an art installation.
History
Brighton School
Location: 51st Avenue S & Graham Street
Building: 1-room wood
Architect: James Stephen
Site: 0.9 acres
1901: Opened by Columbia School District
1905: Closed
1907: Annexed into Seattle School District
1907-08: Operated as Brighton Beach, annex to Brighton
ca. 1916-22: Operated as Brighton Annex
1943: Building sold and removed
1944-45: Leased to Seattle Parks Department
ca. 1949: Building destroyed by fire
1957: Lease canceled and property returned; site expanded
East Brighton School
Location: 51st Avenue S & Graham Street
Building: Portables
Site: 4.4 acres
1957: Opened in September as annex to Brighton
1960: Became independent school; renamed Graham Hill School on June 1
Graham Hill Elementary School
Location: 5149 S Graham Street
Building: 14-room, 2-story brick
Architect: Theo Damm
Site: 4.5 acres
1961: Opened
2004: Addition and modernization (Kubota, Kato and Chin)
Graham Hill Elementary in 2023
Enrollment: 298
Nickname: The Whale School
Configuration: K-5
Colors: Blue
