Fremont Troll — Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead
Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead · N 36th Street and Troll Avenue N, under the Aurora Bridge, Fremont, Seattle, Washington, USA · 1990
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-highsm-50500 (public domain), the same photo as in the Street Art Utopia post. Full photograph shown.
The Fremont Troll is a giant concrete troll under the north end of Seattle’s Aurora Bridge, designed and built in 1990 by Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead for the Fremont Arts Council. UW Neighborhood Design Build Studio: 1990 Fremont Troll · Historical marker at the site (HMdb) · Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 Checked Its left hand clutches a real Volkswagen Beetle. The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 · Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 Checked
5 things to know
- A cleanup that became a landmarkIn 1989 the Fremont Arts Council applied for a City of Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund grant for a sculptural environment under the north end of the Aurora Bridge, then littered with garbage and old mattresses; the aim was to clean up the spot and build a “focal point for community pride”. Badanes later recalled: “The problem under the bridge was that there were rodents, mattresses, beer cans, guys sleeping there.” Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 · The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 Checked
- Chosen by the neighborhoodResidents voted on model designs at the Fremont Fair in June 1990 and until mid-July, and the troll was announced as the winner on 19 July 1990. The counts differ: the city archives say forty proposals came in and four were made into models; The Seattle Times wrote in 1990 of twenty proposals and five finalists, and in 2004 of “some 40 to 50 entries” whittled down to four. We lean to forty proposals and four finalists, the figures in the city’s archive post, which also matches the four finalists named on the marker at the site. Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 · Historical marker at the site (HMdb) · The Seattle Times, 30 Sep 1990 · The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 Conflicting
- A real Beetle, once a time capsuleThe car in the troll’s left hand is a real Volkswagen Beetle. Badanes told The Seattle Times the inside of the car became a time capsule, holding among other things a bust of Elvis; after it was broken into and the bust stolen, it was filled with sand and then concrete. Axios reports, citing Badanes, that it has a California plate. The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 · Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 Reported
- Built to be an iconBadanes and his partners “specifically set out to create an icon”, The Seattle Times reported in 2004, even copyrighting the troll’s image. “You could call it the poor man’s Space Needle,” Badanes said. The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 Reported
- Still looked afterIn September 2023 Seattle Department of Transportation crews built new steps to the top of the troll, a project that cost about $120,000, to help prevent graffiti and give visitors a safer way to take pictures. The Seattle Times, 26 Sep 2023 Reported
Where it is
- 📍
- Under the north end of the Aurora Bridge, at the corner of N 36th Street and Troll Avenue N in Fremont, Seattle. Historical marker at the site (HMdb) · UW Neighborhood Design Build Studio: 1990 Fremont Troll Checked
- 👀
- From the corner of N 36th Street and Troll Avenue N, look north-west under the bridge: the troll’s head and hubcap eye appear just beside the bridge pier. Google Street View, Jul 2021 Checked
- 🗓️
- It stands on open ground under the bridge; since 2023 new steps lead up to the top of the troll. The Seattle Times, 26 Sep 2023 Reported
Sightings
- 199019 Jul
Announced as the winning design
- 199029 Sep
Troll Day dedication
- 2021Jul
Street View: face and hubcap eye
- 202326 Sep
New steps to the top
- 2024Oct
Street View: arm and back
- 202525 Mar
Axios: “still draws admirers”
Every stamp links to its source. The amber stamps are records and reports: the Seattle Municipal Archives’ account of the troll being announced as the winning design on 19 July 1990 and of Troll Day on 29 September 1990, The Seattle Times’ report of 26 September 2023 on new steps to the top, and Axios Seattle’s report of 25 March 2025 that the troll still draws admirers. The green stamps are dated Google Street View imagery: July 2021, showing the troll’s face and hubcap eye from the corner of N 36th Street, and October 2024, showing its arm and back from the west.
On the record
Stuff Of Legends: Fremont Erecting Funky Troll Sculpture
“A few blocks northeast of the Interurban statue, beneath the Aurora Avenue North bridge, area residents yesterday broke ground for a sculpture of a 15-foot-high troll clutching a Volkswagen Beetle.”
Artist was trolling for icon status when he created Fremont Troll
“The problem under the bridge was that there were rodents, mattresses, beer cans, guys sleeping there,” Badanes said. “They thought the problem could possibly be solved by having a piece of art.”
This feature at Seattle’s Fremont Troll just got a makeover
“Using funds from a $930 million levy approved in 2015, crews working for the Seattle Department of Transportation have built new steps to the top of the Fremont Troll.”
The facts
- Title
- Fremont Troll; the marker at the site also calls it “The Troll Under the Bridge”. UW Neighborhood Design Build Studio: 1990 Fremont Troll · Historical marker at the site (HMdb) · Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 Checked
- Artists
- Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead, who designed and built it together. UW Neighborhood Design Build Studio: 1990 Fremont Troll · Historical marker at the site (HMdb) · The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 Checked
- Commissioned by
- The Fremont Arts Council, with a City of Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund grant applied for in 1989. Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 · Historical marker at the site (HMdb) Checked
- Year
- 1990. UW Neighborhood Design Build Studio: 1990 Fremont Troll · Historical marker at the site (HMdb) · Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 · Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 Checked
- Design vote
- Residents voted from June to mid-July 1990; the troll was announced as the winner on 19 July 1990. Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 Checked Some 1,300 votes were cast, according to The Seattle Times in 2004. The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 Reported
- Entries
- Forty proposals and four models (city archives; the marker also names four finalists); twenty proposals and five finalists (The Seattle Times, 1990); “some 40 to 50 entries” whittled down to four (The Seattle Times, 2004). We lean to forty and four, the city archive’s figures. Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 · Historical marker at the site (HMdb) · The Seattle Times, 30 Sep 1990 · The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 Conflicting
- Dedication
- Troll Day, 29 September 1990, with a party to dedicate the site; The Seattle Times reported the next day that residents had broken ground for the troll. Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 · The Seattle Times, 30 Sep 1990 Checked
- Completed
- Later in 1990, with the help of community volunteers. Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 2026 Checked Badanes said construction took about three months; The Seattle Times wrote in 2023 that the troll’s official birthday is Halloween. The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 · The Seattle Times, 26 Sep 2023 Reported
- Height
- About 18 feet (The Seattle Times, 2023; Axios, 2025). Before construction, The Seattle Times described a planned 15-foot-high troll. The Seattle Times, 26 Sep 2023 · Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 · The Seattle Times, 30 Sep 1990 Reported
- Weight
- 13,000 pounds according to Axios (2025); The Seattle Times (2004) called it a “two-ton concrete bust”. We lean to Axios’s specific figure; the 2004 phrase reads as a loose description. Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 · The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 Conflicting
- Materials
- Rebar, sand, mesh and cement, according to Axios, which also lists cement, rebar and wire; concrete according to The Seattle Times. One eye is a hubcap. Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 · The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 Reported
- The car
- A real Volkswagen Beetle in the troll’s left hand. The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004 · Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 Checked It has a California plate, according to Badanes. Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 Reported
- Cost
- About $15,000, according to Badanes. Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 Reported
- Place
- Under the north end of the Aurora Bridge at N 36th Street and Troll Avenue N, Fremont, Seattle; about 47.65110, -122.34735 (our estimate from Street View and the marker’s coordinates). Historical marker at the site (HMdb) · UW Neighborhood Design Build Studio: 1990 Fremont Troll · Google Street View, Jul 2021 Checked
- Status
- Seen: Google Street View dated October 2024 shows the troll’s arm and back. Google Street View, Oct 2024 Checked Axios reported on 25 March 2025 that it “still draws admirers decades later”. Axios Seattle, 25 Mar 2025 Reported
- Our photo
- By Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-highsm-50500, public domain. Library of Congress, LC-DIG-highsm-50500 Checked
Related
- Only in America (11 Photos vol. 3): the SAU collection with the Fremont Troll and other American roadside giants and public art
All sources (11)
Official
- Seattle Municipal Archives: “February Find of the Month: Fremont Troll”, 2 February 2026. The 1989 grant application, forty proposals and four models, the 1990 vote, the winner announced on 19 July, Troll Day on 29 September 1990, completion with volunteers.
- University of Washington, Neighborhood Design Build Studio: “1990 Fremont Troll”. Project archive: N 36th Street and Aurora Avenue N; designed and installed by Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead.
Press
- The Seattle Times: “Stuff Of Legends: Fremont Erecting Funky Troll Sculpture”, by Robert T. Nelson, 30 September 1990. Ground broken for a planned 15-foot troll; twenty proposals and five finalists.
- The Seattle Times: “Artist was trolling for icon status when he created Fremont Troll”, by Erik Lacitis, 30 May 2004. Badanes on the competition, the votes, the VW time capsule, the hubcap eye and the copyright.
- The Seattle Times: “This feature at Seattle’s Fremont Troll just got a makeover”, by Michelle Baruchman, 26 September 2023. New SDOT steps to the top; 18-foot troll; official birthday Halloween.
- Axios Seattle: “Seattle’s Fremont Troll: Art that solved a problem”, by Christine Clarridge, 25 March 2025. Height, weight, materials, cost, the California plate; still draws admirers.
Photos
- Library of Congress: Carol M. Highsmith, Fremont Troll (LC-DIG-highsm-50500), public domain. The photo on this page.
- Google Street View, N 36th Street and Troll Avenue N, July 2021. The troll’s face and hubcap eye beside the bridge pier.
- Google Street View, N 36th Street, October 2024. The troll’s arm and back from the west.
Records
- The Historical Marker Database: “The Fremont Troll”. The marker at the site, erected 1990 by the Fremont Arts Council: artists, four finalists, coordinates.
Street Art Utopia
- Street Art Utopia: “Only in America (11 Photos vol. 3)”, October 2026. The SAU post with this photo.
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