By MICHAEL BARBER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Tom and Karen Brighton unknowingly tread a long-lost but well-worn path when they ventured to the Licton Springs neighborhood to relax with their 2-year-old son, Alex.

Licton Springs Community Park was the summer home of Seattle settler David O. Denny from 1870 until 1903. For centuries before that, American Indians and early settlers wore paths to the springs to sit in sweat lodges, to picnic, drink the mineral waters, or soak draft animals knee-deep in the red mud, soothing aching joints.

Now the park, at North 97th Street and Ashworth Avenue North, lures city dwellers looking for respite.

"We visit a lot of city parks, and this is one of our favorite," said Tom Brighton, a Ballard resident, as his son giggled on a sliding board. "We'd like to live here."

After years as little more than a blur wedged between main arteries -- Northgate Way, Interstate 5 and the schizophrenic businesses and traffic of Aurora Avenue North -- this little North Seattle residential neighborhood is acquiring a heartbeat as a community.

"My experience is that there's a lot more feeling of neighborhood, a lot more feeling of people being connected to each other," said Jerry Owens, who with Jan Brucker and Cheryl Stich co-chairs the Aurora-Licton Springs Planning Committee.

It has been hard for the neighborhood to acquire a focus. It has no community center, and in recent months, residents have been trying to figure out where the heart of their community lies.

"Little Licton Springs is what the neighborhood is," said resident Bethany Ryals, a University Preparatory Academy teacher who takes her students to the springs.

"It's a lush area with a rich history, a little jewel, and the springs are at the heart of every conversation about the neighborhood."

According to the late historian Donald Sherwood, "licton" is a local American Indian word for "red-painted waters," pertaining to the springs' sulfur, magnesium and iron content.

Now, red bricks -- bearing the names of donors to the park -- form a unique children's game path at the park.

The play area has helped turn a sterile field with a restroom into a popular area. Carol Milne, a former resident and landscape artist, designed the path, which features carved instructions on how to play hopscotch games from around the world.

"This is like a fun little place where little kids don't get hurt," said Courtney Bolden, 10, while playing at the park with friends. "You don't have to go 10 blocks away to play."

"People know each other and look out for each other," said her sister Alexis, 13.