How tall is Capitol Hill in Seattle?

Volunteer Park SeattleThe highest point on Seattle’s Capitol Hill is 444.5 feet above sea level near the water tower (of course) in Volunteer Park.  How does Capitol Hill compare with other Seattle neighborhoods when it comes to height?  How about 5th behind High Point/Delridge in West Seattle (512 feet), Greenwood (yes, Greenwood) at N 145th St which has conflicting information (492 or 475 feet), Queen Anne (456 feet), and Maple Leaf (455).

According to Wikipedia, Capitol Hill also has half of Seattle’s 12 steepest streets.  The eastern slope just below the arterial on 23rd has most of the steepest street. Roy (21%) and Ward (19%) both between 25th and 26th a long with Highland (18%) and Lee (18%) between 24th and 25th.  The western slope also has their steep streets with Boston (19%) between Harvard and Broadway and Roy (18%) between Melrose and Bellevue.  The Seattle DOT has different grades for these streets although they admit the information may be out of date.  Nonetheless, both agree Capitol Hill has many of Seattle’s steepest streets.

Why did we say “of course”, when we said the highest point in Capitol Hill was by the water tower?  We could explain it, but this water tower article does a better job than we ever would.

Picture above of Volunteer Park Water Tower By Steven Kevil (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (httpcreativecommons.orglicensesby-sa3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons