WILD NEIGHBORS: The Bears of First Hill
First Hill is remembered for its grand mansions and elegant residents. One of its most remarkable stories tells of the Stimson family, whose mansion still stands on Minor Avenue, raising two orphaned bear cubs around 1910.
The cubs lived at the mansion and were seen wandering the grounds, a living reminder that Seattle’s frontier spirit was never far away. Residents walking to evening gatherings could encounter the bears on the sidewalk, a scene that joined wilderness with city life in the heart of a growing neighborhood.
The mansion itself has endured even as high rises have risen around it. Now owned by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, it continues as both a landmark and a gathering place hosting weddings, nonprofit meetings and community events.
The bears are gone but the house and their story remain. Together they remind us that First Hill has always been a place where history, city and wildness meet.
