Georgetown: Memo's Neighborhood

Memo’s headquarters is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.

With a character reflecting its autonomous roots, its historic focus on work and industry, and a thriving creative community, we couldn’t have found a more appropriate home.

Located about three miles south of downtown Seattle, Georgetown sits adjacent to the Duwamish River, which is named for the Native American tribe that originally lived on the land. In 1871, Julius Horton platted the land and named the community Georgetown to honor his son George who graduated from Georgetown medical school in Washington DC.

One of the earliest industries in the area was beer making. The soil and climate of the area were well suited for growing hops. Capitalizing on that, John Clausen and Edward Sweeny built a brewery in the late 1880s, which grew to become the sixth largest brewery in the world. Today beer making continues to thrive here. The breweries of Georgetown Brewing, Elysian, Two Beers, Counterbalance, Lower Case, Machine House, and Schooner Exact are all located here, and Seattle’s infamous Rainier Brewery facilities, now occupied by local businesses, dot the neighborhood.

Georgetown is well served by airports, rail yards, highways, and seaports. This perhaps all began in the early 1900s. Pilots made use of Georgetown’s local racetrack, as a space to fly airplanes. This presaged the development of the property into the well-known, Boeing Field, in 1928.

In the 70s, design and manufacturing entered the neighborhood. Jack Benaroya opened the Seattle Design and Gift Center in 1973, which has showrooms focused on the interior design industry. At the same time, small manufacturers, from metal casters to candle makers, established in Georgetown to cater to architects, designers, and builders.

Industry and the gritty nature of the area helped cultivate a density of artist work-spaces, funky bars, shops, and restaurants, that give modern-day Georgetown its character. Unique festivals, such as Art Attack, Honk Fest West, and The Georgetown Carnival, which host Hazard Factory’s Power Tool Races, fill the streets on weekends throughout the year.

For Memo, Georgetown is equal parts; creative inspiration, a crossroads of industry and the arts, and a gritty edge condition that breeds authenticity. We love it here and would enjoy showing you around the neighborhood.