 | This articlemay need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia'squality standards. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page.You can help. The talk page may contain suggestions.(December 2024) |
| Green Lake | |
|---|---|
| dxʷƛ̕əš | |
 Looking southwest toward Woodland Park | |
  Green Lake  Green Lake | |
 Map of Green Lake | |
| Location | Seattle, Washington |
| Coordinates | 47°40′41″N122°20′13″W / 47.678°N 122.337°W /47.678; -122.337 |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 259 acres (1.05 km2) |
| Average depth | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Max. depth | 30 ft (9 m) |
| Shore length1 | 2.8 mi (4.5 km) |
| Surface elevation | 160 ft (49 m) |
| 1 Shore length isnot a well-defined measure. | |
Green Lake (Lushootseed:dxʷƛ̕əš) is a freshwaterlake in north centralSeattle,Washington, withinGreen Lake Park. The park is surrounded by theGreen Lakeneighborhood to the north and east, theWallingford neighborhood to the south, thePhinney Ridge neighborhood to the west, andWoodland Park to the southwest. It is aglacial lake, its basin having been dug 50,000 years ago by theVashon glacier, which also createdLake Washington,Union,Bitter andHaller Lakes.
Green Lake is calleddxʷƛ̕əš in Lushootseed, the native language of Seattle. The etymology of the name is unknown.[1][2] It was given its English name by David Phillips, who surveyed the area in September 1855 for the United States Surveyor General. His first notes referred to it as "Lake Green" because even in its natural state the lake is prone to algae blooms.
The lake has a surface area of 259 acres (1.05 km2), a mean depth of 13 feet (4.0 m), and a maximum depth of 30 feet (9.1 m). The lake has been dredged in order to maintain its depth. Green Lake lacks both surface water inflows and outflows. It once drained intoLake Washington viaRavenna Creek, but in 1911 the water level was lowered by 7 feet (2.1 m) to create parkland, causing the creek to dry up between Green Lake andCowen Park. Ravenna Boulevard and its wide, grassy median were constructed over the creek bed. The lake is now fed by rainfall, storm runoff, and Seattle's municipal water supply.
The area was originally homesteaded by various pioneers, the first being Erhart Sarfried, "Green Lake John." Sarfried subdivided his homestead in 1888 and sold the land to various entrepreneurs. W.D. Wood built an "amusement park" on the west side of the lake (which never amounted to more than a glorifiedlawn for picnics). On the east side of the lake, A.L. Parker logged the woods and built a sawmill.Edward C. Kilbourne built the first trolley line connecting the area to the city, the route of which is now Green Lake Way North. The trolley lines kept growing, until by 1910 they extended completely around the lake and a round trip could be made on a separate line going back to the city.
In July 2008, several metal spikes up to 3 feet (0.91 m) in length were found along the bottom of the lake, injuring one person who accidentally stepped on them.[3] The Seattle Parks Department later confirmed that the spikes were from a forgotten pilot program to control the growth ofEurasian water milfoil in Green Lake. The invasive aquatic plant had first appeared in the lake in the early 1980s. In 1984, the Parks Department installed 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of black plastic sheeting along the bottom of the lake, using the spikes to hold the sheeting in place. The spikes originally had curved tips to prevent injury, but the tips had corroded and broken off. The city paid a team of divers to remove the remaining spikes in late July 2008.[4] Throughout the course of the investigation, it was revealed that the city had also tried combating the milfoil with weed-eating fish, but hadn't made any serious efforts in the past 15 years aside from occasionally paying divers to pull the weeds by hand.
After 1903 the area became part of Seattle's grandOlmsted Plan to create a series of interconnected greenspaces around the entire city. The park design still reflects the Olmsted vision.
Green Lake is surrounded by a 2.8 mi (4.5 km) paved pedestrian pathway. Bicycles, scooters,roller skates, and other wheeled vehicles were barred from using the paved pathway during theCOVID-19 pandemic due to high pedestrian use and the construction of new protected bicycle lanes on Green Lake Way. This restriction, made by the Seattle Parks and Recreation department, is currently classified as a "long-term temporary use restriction".[5]
The path attracts people seeking exercise and relaxation, and can be crowded. There is also an outer non-paved 3.2 mi (5.1 km) path along the edge of the park. The park is a popular spot forqigong classes,roller hockey,soccer,baseball,golf, the Derek Baker Memorial Boccie Ball Club, and lawnbowls, part of the Woodland Park Lawn Bowling Club, and a monthly midnight bicycle race.
The bathhouse was built in 1927 next to an outdoor swimming area with concrete steps leading into the water. Alifeguard station with a boat was built next to this area in 1930 after several drownings in 1929. The bathhouse is now home to the Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse, a small venue for plays.
Across the lake from the bathhouse, in the northeast part of the park, Green Lake's first community center was built in 1929 at a cost of $95,598. As it was built on the fill land from the 1911 draining, the community center was built on pilings. It contains two conference rooms, a gym with showers and bathrooms, and a stage. Toward the lake, another stepped swimming area was built. The tennis courts were added in 1945. In 1955 a 150,000 gallon (568 cubic meter)swimming pool was added. It was named the Evans Pool in honor of two brothers, Ben and Lou Evans, for their long service to athletics at Seattle parks.
On the east side of the park there is a basketball court, where localNational Basketball Association players would occasionally appear for pick-up games in the 1990s.[6]
The children's wading pool was aWorks Progress Administration project, as was the drainage ditch and the arched stone bridge providing a path over the ditch. The wading pool is staffed in the summer by the Seattle Parks department, and operates daily from June 23–September 3, from 11 a.m.–8 p.m.
South of the bathhouse is a lawn and fishing pier. Since 1984 this part of the lake has hosted an annual floating lantern memorial dedicated to the victims of theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all other victims of war.[7]
Prospect Point, a spit of land that points toward Duck Island, protects a small area of water from high winds. This once was a popular spot formodel boats, though model boating is no longer allowed on the lake.
TheGreen Lake Aqua Theater was built in 1950 for the firstSeafair in order to house an attraction called the Aqua Follies and their "swimusicals," a combination of aqua ballet, stage dancing, and comedy. The theater included a round stage and floating (though still recessed below the stage) orchestra pit, encircling a section of the lake with high diving platforms on each side. The grandstand capacity was more than 5,000 seats. The Aqua Follies continued to run during Seafair until 1965. Outside of the Seafair schedule the theater was the stage for plays and musicals whose directors always took advantage of the unique setting. In the summer of 1962, coinciding with theCentury 21 Exposition, the Aqua Theater stage was host to a jazz festival, popular performers such asBob Hope, two plays, and a special presentation of the Aqua Follies with 100 performers. After the World's Fair, summer productions languished, which is usually blamed on Seattle'sunpredictable weather, until the Aqua Theater was mostly abandoned. A 1969 concert by theGrateful Dead revealed that the grandstand was crumbling and dangerous. Beginning in 1970 the theater was dismantled, stage right now serving as a pedestrian pier and stage left providing dock and storage forcrew shells. Some sections of the grandstand were left in place.[8]
The southwest portion of the park connects with adjoiningWoodland Park on land that is also mostly fill, much of which came from the excavation of a route forAurora Avenue. The southwest portion of the lake once extended to what is now N. 54th Street.
In the summer, Green Lake is also popular forswimming and boating. Although public use of motorized boats has been banned since at least 1968, the lake was the site ofhydroplane races from 1929 to 1984. Today many forms of motor-less boats, includingsailboarding,pedal boats,rowboats,skiffs, andcanoes, are commonly seen on the lake. The Milk Carton Derby is held annually on the lake as one of the opening events of Seafair. While remnants of boat launches still exist, all launches have been removed from the lake; all boats must be hand carried to the water.
The Green Lake Small Craft Center, a Seattle Parks facility, is located on the south end of the lake. It houses bothGreen Lake Crew and the Seattle Canoe and Kayak Club. From August 10–13, 2006, Green Lake hosted theUSRowing Masters National Championship Regatta, which included an estimated 2,000 competitors ranging in age from 23 to 86 years of age.[9]
To the east of the lake across from the park, sits the Green Lake Library, built in 1910 with funds from Andrew Carnegie.
Within the lake is anartificial island that is commonly calledDuck Island but was originally named Swan Island. It was built by theWorks Progress Administration in 1936. The island was built (with dumped gravel) as awildlife sanctuary and later housed someswan gifted to the city byVancouver, British Columbia. The park board named the island Waldo's Wildlife Sanctuary, after Waldo J Dahl, who took care of the swan. The swans, which were intended to start a small flock, did not have proper breeding habitat around the island. Future attempts to breed swans on the island (at least until the 1970s) were also failures. The state game commission officially made the island a reserve, off limits to people, in 1956. That designation ended in 1983. Though not noted as supporting any unique wildlife, theWashington Department of Fish and Wildlife notes the island is part of a bald eagle management buffer encompassing the south end of the lake. The parks department still considers the island off-limits to people for safety reasons. But there is an occasional presence of rope swings and empty alcohol containers.[10]
The Green Lake Small Craft Center, which is a Seattle Parks facility, is the training ground for Green LakeCrew, which has a history of successful rowing at the national level.
The Green Lake Small Craft Center also is home to the Seattle Canoe and Kayak Club. This Olympic style sprint paddling also competes at a national level.
Green Lake is a beacon forwildlife. Many types of wildlife, includingtoads,ducks,cormorants,loons,herons,geese,turtles,raccoons,rats,squirrels,bats,hawks,eagles, andosprey are among the wild creatures commonly viewed there.
Green Lake is a popular dumping ground for unwanted house pets and developed a large population offeralrabbits. The rabbits created problems by burrowing under streets and retaining walls and into theWoodland Park Zoo. Over the years volunteers adopted or removed the rabbits but not fast enough to keep the population under control. In 2005 the city and zoo combined with the Rabbit Sanctuary to remove all of the rabbits and present an educational outreach campaign to teach people not to abandon rabbits.[11] The practice of abandoning pets into or around Green Lake has resulted in several other non-native species needing removal, mostly ordinarygoldfish but including exotic species such assturgeon andcaiman at various times.
Recently, a program has been implemented to substantially reduce the number of ducks and geese.[citation needed] Their droppings raise the level ofphosphorus in the lake, leading to excessive growths ofalgae andmilfoil. In 2003 the lake was treated withaluminum sulfate to encapsulate the phosphorus. A paddle boat, moored in the lake, is used to cut the milfoil. The fowl also leavepathogens in the lake which can causeSwimmer's itch. This shows the difficulty of maintaining water quality in a stagnant lake.
Many species offish live in Green Lake.Trout, mainlyrainbow trout, are stocked for recreational fishing. A large population ofcommon carp are present, and can be seen spawning in the shallows in spring.Tiger muskellunge were stocked to control the carp population, as carp are perceived as an invasive species and can contribute toeutrophication. The lake also containslargemouth bass,yellow perch,bluegill,yellow bullhead,channel catfish, and small populations of many different unexpected species.
During the spring, Green Lake Park is in bloom with pink and whitecherry trees. Planted along the west side of the lake in 1931 and 1932, they were a gift from the Japanese Association of North America.
.jpg)
