Georgetown's first settlement was founded on September 27, 1851, when Luther Collins, Henry Van Asselt, and the Maple family arrived with their household goods with the intention of farming the rich alluvial lands of the Duwamish delta.

The Denny Party suffered in relative squalor in an unfinished cabin and encampment until their move in 1852 to the future downtown Seattle area.

The freight hub in Georgetown fostered the development of industries capitalizing on its access to resources and rail-to-market, including breweries, lumber mills, brickyards, and foundries.

With fill provided by waste from an early regrade attempt on Beacon Hill, the industrial area grew northward across the former tideflats.

With access to good hop-growing areas in the valleys of the Duwamish drainage and a large contingent of German immigrants, Georgetown became the sixth-largest beer producing district in the world.

Recent years have seen the opening of several microbreweries with pubs in Georgetown, in a nod to the neighborhood's roots fitting with its revival as an entertainment and cultural district.

In 1893 Seattle streetcar service came to Georgetown and the King County Hospital was built near the corner of Orcas Street and Corson Avenue, east of the Poor Farm.

With Seattle increasingly cracking down on public sinfulness within its boundaries, Georgetown caught the windfall with its twenty-four 24 hour saloons, some of which advertised lodging arrangements, and horse racing track.

Straightening and deepening of the Duwamish waterway completed in 1916 made it more accessible for maritime commerce, bringing more waterfront business to the area.

Dated and downscale housing stock, congestion, and the worst air and noise pollution in the city made it an unattractive place to settle.

Laura Cassidy of the Seattle Weekly described the prevailing aesthetic: "Creatively employing the open, airy brick-walled spaces left behind by industry and manufacturing, and augmenting them with local art and 20th-century detritus, Georgetown's merchants consistently fashion warm, imaginative interiors: places you want to visit and never want to leave.

"[12][13][14] Recent years have seen multiple-unit housing built in some of the remaining residential blocks near the old red brick commercial and industrial district.