The Fremont Rocket is a sculpture of a rocket in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, US. The rocket had been displayed at an army surplus store in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood until 1991, when a news radio broadcast said the store was dismantling its "circa 1950 Cold War rocket fuselage [sic]", prompting the Fremont Business Association to buy it for $750.[1][2] The Business Association took a few years to overcome problems with assembling and erecting the rocket, finally placing it at its current location at N 35th St. and Evanston Ave N. on June 3, 1994.[1][3]

Fremont Rocket
The rocket in 2009
Year	before 1991
Medium	Found object sculpture
Dimensions	16 m (53 ft)
Location	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates	47.65061°N 122.35118°W / 47.65061; -122.35118

Though the salvaged "rocket fuselage" description has been repeated by some sources, and a Fremont chamber of commerce member called it a "de-fanged Cold War emblem",[4][5] it is not made of any rocket or missile parts, but rather from a military surplus tail boom originally part of a Fairchild C-119 'Flying Boxcar' transport aircraft. It has a stereotypical 1920s streamlined Art Deco sci-fi space rocket appearance, adorned with "neon laser pods" in the style of rayguns.[1][2][3]

The rocket bears Fremont's coat of arms and motto De Libertas Quirkas or "Freedom to be Peculiar", and was called "phallic and zany-looking" by Lonely Planet, which said the neighborhood has adopted it as a "community totem".[1][3] The rocket's proximity to the Fremont's Statue of Lenin contributed to its image as a Cold War relic.[4]

References

External links

• Official website
• New planet added to ‘Center of Universe’ by Joshua Trujillo (August 29, 2013), Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• Seattle, Washington: Fremont Rocket at RoadsideAmerica.com
• Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop map, City of Seattle