The neighborhood received the name as the result of a Community Club contest held eight years later, in 1927.

Alumni include Mark Pattison, who played football for the University of Washington Huskies and was drafted in the seventh round in 1985 by the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, actress Rose McGowan,(also attended Nova)[citation needed] and Nobel laureates Linda B. Buck and Robert Lucas Jr.[4] Although primarily a residential neighborhood, the Roosevelt district had a Sears department store from 1928 to 1980.

[5] After its closure, the land was redeveloped as Roosevelt Square,[1] which now features supermarket Whole Foods Market[6] and a Mud Bay pet store among other businesses.

A block beyond Roosevelt Way to the west is the longest-established vegetarian restaurant in Seattle, independent Sunlight Cafe, nearly as old (1978) as Starbucks.

During the nine-year transit construction period, the neighborhood transformed by replacing single-family homes with midrise apartments.