Fremont Troll

This guide to the Fremont Troll in Seattle starts at a 1990 public art contest meant to chase homeless encampments from a dead-end patch under the Aurora Bridge, with a design judges almost rejected: a concrete troll crushing a real Volkswagen Beetle in its fist. It follows architecture professor Steve Badanes and his students, whose swipe at development and California transplants ended with a time capsule and a plaster bust of Elvis hidden inside the car, and the break-in that emptied it within months. Look closely at the crushed Beetle's California plates before you look up at the troll's hollow-eyed face.