Seattle-Area Post Office To Be Renamed In Honor Of Jimi Hendrix
Before rising to international fame in the late 1960s, the iconic guitarist grew up in Seattle, spending much of his youth in the Central District and attending Garfield High School.
Legislators in Washington State have voted unanimously to rename a post office in honor of Jimi Hendrix.
As the Seattle Times reports, Renton Highlands Post Office is set to be renamed the James Marshall ‘Jimi’ Hendrix Post Office. The post office is located in the Seattle suburb of Renton, less than a mile from the Jimi Hendrix Memorial in Greenwood Memorial Park cemetery, where the iconic guitarist and singer/songwriter – a Seattle native- is buried.
“I am honored to join in paying tribute to rock and roll icon and Seattle native Jimi Hendrix with the renaming of the Renton Highlands Post Office as the James Marshall ‘Jimi’ Hendrix Post Office Building,” Rep. Adam Smith, who sponsored the bill to rename the post office, said in a statement. “This designation will further celebrate Hendrix’s deep connection to the Puget Sound region and help ensure that his creative legacy will be remembered by our community and inspire future generations.”
Before rising to international fame in the late 1960s, Hendrix grew up in Seattle, spending much of his youth in the Central District and attending Garfield High School. There’s no shortage of Hendrix tributes scattered around his hometown — from the statue on Broadway to his namesake park adjacent to the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) — etching “Seattle’s most recognizable son,” as the museum’s director LaNesha DeBardelaben described him, into the city’s history.
“His legendary artistic genius chartered new territory within world music,” said DeBardelaben in a statement supporting the bill. “While his reach was international in scope, his roots trace back to Seattle and we are proud to richly celebrate his legacy as part of his hometown community.”
Earlier tin 2018, NAAM unveiled its own tribute to Hendrix’s legacy. In partnership with Hendrix’s estate, the ‘Bold as Love: Jimi Hendrix at Home’ exhibition, which runs through to 5 May 2019, offers an intimate look into the star’s upbringing. While the exhibit touches on Hendrix’s well-documented London stint — including a replica of his signature British cavalry jacket — that helped launch him into the stratosphere, the real draw is the half focusing on his early years in Seattle.
Explore Our Jimi Hendrix Artist Page.
UK English
Fred Maxie
January 1, 2019 at 8:39 pm
Kudos to senator Adam Smith and US congressman and supporters of naming the Marshall Jimmy Hendrix post office and written after our local celebrity Jim Jimmy Hendrix this is a landmark decision for people of color music and the rainbow coalition in which Jimmy Hendrix and his father grew up and thrived