Fremont Troll

Seattle, Washington, United States

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Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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The Fremont Troll is a ferroconcrete troll clutching a Volkswagen beneath the north end of the Aurora Bridge in Fremont, Seattle. Visit Seattle gives its height as 18 feet. The Fremont Arts Council commissioned it in 1989 and neighbourhood voters chose the design in 1990.

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Fremont Troll

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47.65105° N, 122.34723° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Seattle's Fremont Troll started as a rubbish problem.

In 1989 the Fremont Arts Council applied for a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant for a project called Hall of Giants, according to the Seattle Municipal Archives. The aim was to clean up the view corridor beneath the north end of the Aurora Bridge, which the Archives describes as an area full of garbage and old mattresses, and to create a focal point for community pride. HistoryLink quotes the council's aim of doing something more imaginative with the space than letting it turn into an urban grotto and tire dump.

Forty proposals came in from across the country, and the Archives says four designs were made into models for Fremont residents to vote on: living-room furniture, an abstract recycling piece, four stone musicians, and a troll clutching a Volkswagen. The Seattle Times and HistoryLink both describe five finalists, so the number of finalists differs by source. The troll was announced as winner on 19 July 1990, and 29 September 1990 was declared Troll Day, with a party to dedicate the site.

HistoryLink credits a team led by sculptor Steve Badanes, with Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead, and says it was completed in seven weeks from rebar steel, wire and two tons of ferroconcrete. The Seattle Times reported in September 1990 that it was planned to be 15 feet high; Visit Seattle now gives 18 feet. In 2005, the Seattle City Council renamed the short street under the bridge Troll Avenue North.

Visit Seattle says visitors can climb on the Troll and that Troll's Knoll Park, with its Moss Turtle sculpture, is nearby. Gas Works Park is a short walk away. The Troll is at North 36th Street and Troll Avenue North in Fremont.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An outdoor sculpture beneath the Aurora Bridge. Visit Seattle says visitors of all ages can climb on the Troll and explore nearby Troll's Knoll Park, home to the Moss Turtle sculpture.

ACCESS

Beneath the north end of the Aurora Bridge at North 36th Street and Troll Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103, per Visit Seattle. It is a public outdoor site; Gas Works Park is a short walk away.

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WHAT'S NEXT

Find another Big Thing nearby

9 Spaces 9 Trees is an outdoor installation by Robert Irwin on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, between Odegaard Library and the Henry Art Gallery. Irwin first made it in 1983 for the rooftop plaza of the City of Seattle's Public Safety Building, and re-conceived it for the campus after a redesign of that site required its removal. A maze-like layout of fencing defines nine spaces, with nine trees. ArtsWA records it as 20 ft x 54 ft x 54 ft in concrete, steel, aluminum, wood and trees.

Public art

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2.8 km away

TRANSPARENCY

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