sr 513 was created during the 1964 state highway renumbering as the successor to secondary state highway 1j (ssh 1j), itself created in 1937 and traveling from downtown seattle to lake city. sections of ssh 1j, including madison street from downtown to capitol hill, date as far back as 1854. most sections of the highway were built in the 1890s and 1900s in preparation for the alaska–yukon–pacific exposition, which took place on the university of washington campus in 1909. sr 513 was shortened in 1971 to its present southern terminus, the interchange with sr 520 in montlake, and to an interchange with interstate 5 (i-5) on the seattle–shoreline city border. in 1991, the highway was truncated to its current northern terminus at magnuson park, eliminating its route through lake city and much of north seattle.