| Fremont Rocket | |
|---|---|
 The rocket in 2009 | |
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| |
| Year | before 1991 |
| Medium | Found object sculpture |
| Dimensions | 16 m (53 ft) |
| Location | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| 47°39′02″N 122°21′04″W / 47.65061°N 122.35118°W | |
The Fremont Rocket is a sculpture of a rocket in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, US. The rocket had been displayed at an army surplus store in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood until 1991, when a news radio broadcast said the store was dismantling its "circa 1950 Cold War rocket fuselage [ sic]", prompting the Fremont Business Association to buy it for $750. [1] [2] The Business Association took a few years to overcome problems with assembling and erecting the rocket, finally placing it at its current location at N 35th St. and Evanston Ave N. on June 3, 1994. [1] [3]
Though the salvaged "rocket fuselage" description has been repeated by some sources, and a Fremont chamber of commerce member called it a "de-fanged Cold War emblem", [4] [5] it is not made of any rocket or missile parts but rather from a military surplus tail boom originally part of a Fairchild C-119 'Flying Boxcar' transport aircraft. It has a stereotypical 1920s streamlined Art Deco sci-fi space rocket appearance, adorned with "neon laser pods" in the style of rayguns. [1] [2] [3]
The rocket bears Fremont's coat of arms and motto De Libertas Quirkas or "Freedom to be Peculiar", and was called "phallic and zany-looking" by Lonely Planet, which said the neighborhood has adopted it as a "community totem". [1] [3] The rocket's proximity to Fremont's Statue of Lenin contributed to its image as a Cold War relic. [4]
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References
- ^ a b c d Divjak, Helen (2006), Seattle's Fremont; Images of America, Arcadia Publishing, p. 100, ISBN 0738531197
- ^ a b Houston, we have lift off, Fremont, Seattle: Fremont Chamber of Commerce
- ^ a b c "Fremont Rocket". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
- ^ a b de Leon, Ferdinand M. (June 1, 1995). "Lenin moves into Fremont—bronze statue moves from 'burbs to Fremont". The Seattle Times. p. B1. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
- ^ "Seattle", Fodor's Seattle, Fodor's Travel, 2017, p. 137, ISBN 978-0147546838, retrieved August 19, 2019
External links
- Official website
- New planet added to ‘Center of Universe’ by Joshua Trujillo (August 29, 2013), Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Seattle, Washington: Fremont Rocket at RoadsideAmerica.com
- Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop map, City of Seattle
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