In the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, there lives a strange and monstrous creature. It makes its home under the north end of the George Washington Memorial Bridge (also known as the Aurora Bridge) and stands 18 feet tall (5.5 meters). Weighing in at over 13,000 pounds (6,000 kg), it waits for unsuspecting cars to pass a little too close…
The Fremont Troll, completed in 1990, is a mixed media statue constructed out of steel rebar, concrete, and wire. The concept for the statue, also known as The Troll and Troll Under the Bridge, was submitted as an entry in a contest created by the Fremont Arts Council to clean up and rehabilitate the area under the Aurora Bridge. In 2005 the Fremont Neighborhood renamed the street passing by from Aurora Avenue North to Troll Avenue.
It is interesting to note that the Troll is grasping a real Volkswagen Beetle. Reportedly, the Bug had California license plates until they were stolen in 1998. Every year on October 31st the neighborhood hosts a “Troll-a-ween” art party where people gather at the Troll and then moving on to visit other public art sites and events in the area. If you’re ever going over the George Washington Memorial Bridge, be careful not to wake the troll unless you have three very clever billy goats to distract him!
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