Magnuson Park (Seattle)
Encyclopedia
Magnuson Park is a 350 acre (1.4 km²) park
on Sand Point
at Pontiac Bay, Lake Washington
, in the Sand Point
neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park is the second largest in Seattle, after 534 acre (2.2 km²) Discovery Park
in Magnolia
. It is located on the spot of the former Naval Station Puget Sound
. Sand Point is the peninsula
with Pontiac and Wolf bays that juts into Lake Washington
in northeast Seattle. (map).
, a movement was begun to build Naval Air Station
(NAS) Seattle at Sand Point, and King County
began acquiring surrounding parcels. In 1922 the U.S. Navy
began construction on the site, which it was leasing from the county, and in 1926 the Navy was deeded the 413 acres (1.7 km²) field outright. The name Carkeek Park was subsequently given to a new park
on the west side of the city, north of Ballard
on Puget Sound
. This deed amounted to a public gift of $500,000 from the county to the Navy, in 1926 dollars; this would be $5,283,000 in 2005 dollars, not including significant real estate appreciation. The facility then became known Naval Air Station Sand Point.
Naval Air Station Seattle was deactivated in 1970 and the airfield was shut down; the reduced base was renamed "Naval Support Activity Seattle." Negotiations began as to who would receive the surplus property. In 1975 a large portion of the Navy's land was given to the City of Seattle and to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). The city's land was largely developed as a park and named Sand Point Park. In 1977, it was renamed Magnuson Park in honor of longtime U.S. Senator
Warren Magnuson, a former naval officer from Seattle. Both names for the park are commonly used. The airfield runways were demolished in the late 1970s and new construction on the north end for NOAA was completed in 1982 (photo - 1981).
Magnuson Park is home to Seattle's biggest playground, the Junior League of Seattle Children's Playground which was designed, developed and funded through the efforts of the Junior League of Seattle, a women's leadership and volunteer organization. Opened in 1999 and spearheaded by prominent Seattle resident, Mary Herche, the Playground celebrated its 10th anniversary on Saturday, May 16, 2009, where children played in the 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²) of colorful climbing walls, sand box, swings, slides and much more.
The Junior League of Seattle donated and dedicated this "Air, Land and Sea" playground to the children of Seattle to commemorate the organization's 75 years of community service. The playground was designed partly by children and built entirely by volunteers at the site of the former Naval Air Station Control Tower.
Sand Point provides habitat for the second richest bird habitat of any park in Seattle, with 170 species reported. In addition, Magnuson Park today features several sports fields, a picnic area, a swimming beach, public sailboating, many paths for walking and bicycling, a dog park
or off-leash dog area and "Kite Hill", a large grassy man-made hill constructed in the 1980s from earth and pavement pieces of the old airfield tarmac
. Vehicle access includes boat launch ramps and large parking lots for cars, trucks, and boat trailers. The Sports Meadow, a 12 acre (5 ha) natural grass athletic field area, was developed in the early 1980s near the center of the former main runway. Rebuilt in 2004-05 and raised nearly eight feet to improve drainage, it is now divided into four unlit soccer fields. As of 2005, the City of Seattle had a development plan that featured a large sports field complex of approximately ten fields, with seven well lit. The plan had encountered opposition from neighborhood groups, environmental and park advocates.
The plan was amended to five new athletic fields with an engineered wetlands area, with additional pavement areas removed and construction of new walking trails. Opened in April 2009 southeast of the Meadow area, the first three fields (all lit with synthetic turf) are primarily for rugby
(field # 5) and soccer (# 6, 7). Later in the year the baseball
field (# 8, unlit) and softball
field (# 9) to the south were completed, but were not opened until late 2010 to allow the natural grass outfields to mature. Runoff from the athletic fields feeds the wetlands area and restrictions on lighting were enacted; no late nights or Sundays.
Part of the wetlands project included the removal of the parking lot at the south end of the Sports Meadow and the demolition of Building 193 at the south end of the park. Built in 1943 as a hangar for transport aircraft, it was later the base's commissary and exchange; it was removed in December 2006.
that juts into Lake Washington
between Wolf Bay and Pontiac Bay. It is occupied by Magnuson Park, parts of View Ridge
, Windermere
and gives its name to the Sand Point neighborhood
to the west. Formerly the easternmost point was Naval Air Station
-Sand Point; the former military base is now mostly public park with a portion occupied by NOAA and by city housing.
The area has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 BCE—10,000 years ago). Prairie or tall grassland areas (anthropogenic grassland
s) were maintained along what is now Sand Point Way NE (map http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/public/nmaps/html/NN-0004S.htm), among numerous locations in what is now Seattle. The Xacuabš (Xachua'bsh or hah-choo-AHBSH, "the People of the Large Lake", now of the Duwamish tribe) had the village of TLEHLS ("minnows" or "shiners") on the shores of what is now called Wolf Bay in Windermere
, on Lake Washington south of SqWsEb, now called Sand Point-Magnuson Park. BEbqwa'bEks ("small prairie"—anthropogenic grassland) was near what is now Windermere. One or three sizable longhouses
have been documented. Villages were diffuse. These people may have been associated with the hloo-weelh-AHBSH of Union Bay. Just on the other side of Sand Point, the village of too-HOO-beed was of the too-oh-beh-DAHBSH extended family, near what is now called Thornton Creek
at what is now Matthews Beach
, so Sand Point was their shared "side yard".
The park also has a history of unofficial clothing-optional use since the mid 1970s. Sporadic and quiet use is in the northeast part of the Park, east of NOAA. Long-term volunteer efforts continue toward enhancing safe and legal use. Magnuson Beach Bares as MagnusonBeach.org has recently begun posting organized events for these purposes (August 2006). Magnuson Park is one of about two dozen locations in Seattle.
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
on Sand Point
Sand Point
Sand Point is a peninsula that juts into Lake Washington from north Seattle, Washington, USA. It is mostly occupied by Magnuson Park and gives its name to the Sand Point neighborhood to the west. Formerly a U.S. naval air station, it is mostly public park area, but with a portion occupied by...
at Pontiac Bay, Lake Washington
Lake Washington
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...
, in the Sand Point
Sand Point, Seattle, Washington
Sand Point is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States, named after and consisting mostly of the Sand Point peninsula that juts into Lake Washington, which is itself largely given over to Magnuson Park. Its southern boundary can be said to be N.E. 65th Street, beyond which are...
neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park is the second largest in Seattle, after 534 acre (2.2 km²) Discovery Park
Discovery Park (Seattle)
Discovery Park is a 534 acre park in the peninsular Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is the city's largest public park and contains 11.81 miles of walking trails. United Indians of All Tribes' Daybreak Star Cultural Center is within the park's boundaries...
in Magnolia
Magnolia, Seattle, Washington
Magnolia is the second largest neighborhood of Seattle, Washington by area. It occupies a hilly peninsula northwest of downtown. Magnolia is isolated from the rest of Seattle, connected by road to the rest of the city by only three bridges over the tracks of the BNSF Railway: W. Emerson Place in...
. It is located on the spot of the former Naval Station Puget Sound
Naval Station Puget Sound
Naval Station Puget Sound is a former United States Naval station located on Sand Point in Seattle, Washington. Today, the land is occupied by Magnuson Park.-History:...
. Sand Point is the peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
with Pontiac and Wolf bays that juts into Lake Washington
Lake Washington
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...
in northeast Seattle. (map).
Sand Point-Magnuson Park
The first park at Sand Point was established in 1900 as Carkeek Park, a gift from developers Mr. and Mrs. Morgan J. Carkeek. After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, a movement was begun to build Naval Air Station
Naval Air Station
A Naval Air Station is a military airbase, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of their Navy...
(NAS) Seattle at Sand Point, and King County
King County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....
began acquiring surrounding parcels. In 1922 the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
began construction on the site, which it was leasing from the county, and in 1926 the Navy was deeded the 413 acres (1.7 km²) field outright. The name Carkeek Park was subsequently given to a new park
Carkeek Park
Carkeek Park is a 216-acre park located in the Broadview neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park contains Piper Orchard, Pipers Creek , play and picnic areas, picnic shelters, and hiking trails. A pedestrian bridge across the main lines of the BNSF Railway connects to the Carkeek Park...
on the west side of the city, north of Ballard
Ballard, Seattle, Washington
Ballard is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ; to the east by Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Fremont ; to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s...
on Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
. This deed amounted to a public gift of $500,000 from the county to the Navy, in 1926 dollars; this would be $5,283,000 in 2005 dollars, not including significant real estate appreciation. The facility then became known Naval Air Station Sand Point.
Naval Air Station Seattle was deactivated in 1970 and the airfield was shut down; the reduced base was renamed "Naval Support Activity Seattle." Negotiations began as to who would receive the surplus property. In 1975 a large portion of the Navy's land was given to the City of Seattle and to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
(NOAA). The city's land was largely developed as a park and named Sand Point Park. In 1977, it was renamed Magnuson Park in honor of longtime U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Warren Magnuson, a former naval officer from Seattle. Both names for the park are commonly used. The airfield runways were demolished in the late 1970s and new construction on the north end for NOAA was completed in 1982 (photo - 1981).
Magnuson Park is home to Seattle's biggest playground, the Junior League of Seattle Children's Playground which was designed, developed and funded through the efforts of the Junior League of Seattle, a women's leadership and volunteer organization. Opened in 1999 and spearheaded by prominent Seattle resident, Mary Herche, the Playground celebrated its 10th anniversary on Saturday, May 16, 2009, where children played in the 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²) of colorful climbing walls, sand box, swings, slides and much more.
The Junior League of Seattle donated and dedicated this "Air, Land and Sea" playground to the children of Seattle to commemorate the organization's 75 years of community service. The playground was designed partly by children and built entirely by volunteers at the site of the former Naval Air Station Control Tower.
Dog park
A dog park is a facility set aside for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners...
or off-leash dog area and "Kite Hill", a large grassy man-made hill constructed in the 1980s from earth and pavement pieces of the old airfield tarmac
Tarmac
Tarmac is a type of road surface. Tarmac refers to a material patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901...
. Vehicle access includes boat launch ramps and large parking lots for cars, trucks, and boat trailers. The Sports Meadow, a 12 acre (5 ha) natural grass athletic field area, was developed in the early 1980s near the center of the former main runway. Rebuilt in 2004-05 and raised nearly eight feet to improve drainage, it is now divided into four unlit soccer fields. As of 2005, the City of Seattle had a development plan that featured a large sports field complex of approximately ten fields, with seven well lit. The plan had encountered opposition from neighborhood groups, environmental and park advocates.
The plan was amended to five new athletic fields with an engineered wetlands area, with additional pavement areas removed and construction of new walking trails. Opened in April 2009 southeast of the Meadow area, the first three fields (all lit with synthetic turf) are primarily for rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
(field # 5) and soccer (# 6, 7). Later in the year the baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
field (# 8, unlit) and softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
field (# 9) to the south were completed, but were not opened until late 2010 to allow the natural grass outfields to mature. Runoff from the athletic fields feeds the wetlands area and restrictions on lighting were enacted; no late nights or Sundays.
Part of the wetlands project included the removal of the parking lot at the south end of the Sports Meadow and the demolition of Building 193 at the south end of the park. Built in 1943 as a hangar for transport aircraft, it was later the base's commissary and exchange; it was removed in December 2006.
Sand Point
Sand Point is a peninsulaPeninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
that juts into Lake Washington
Lake Washington
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...
between Wolf Bay and Pontiac Bay. It is occupied by Magnuson Park, parts of View Ridge
View Ridge, Seattle, Washington
View Ridge is a neighborhood in north Seattle, Washington. As with all Seattle neighborhoods, its boundaries are not fixed, but can be thought of as NE 65th Street in the south, 40th and 45th Avenues NE in the west, the Sand Point Country Club in the north, and Sand Point Way NE in the east. Many...
, Windermere
Windermere, Seattle, Washington
Windermere is a well-to-do residential neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, named after Windermere in England's Lake District. It is bounded on the north by Magnuson Park, part of Sand Point; on the northwest by Sand Point Way N.E., beyond which is Hawthorne Hills; on the southwest by Ivanhoe Place...
and gives its name to the Sand Point neighborhood
Sand Point, Seattle, Washington
Sand Point is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States, named after and consisting mostly of the Sand Point peninsula that juts into Lake Washington, which is itself largely given over to Magnuson Park. Its southern boundary can be said to be N.E. 65th Street, beyond which are...
to the west. Formerly the easternmost point was Naval Air Station
Naval Air Station
A Naval Air Station is a military airbase, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of their Navy...
-Sand Point; the former military base is now mostly public park with a portion occupied by NOAA and by city housing.
The area has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 BCE—10,000 years ago). Prairie or tall grassland areas (anthropogenic grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
s) were maintained along what is now Sand Point Way NE (map http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/public/nmaps/html/NN-0004S.htm), among numerous locations in what is now Seattle. The Xacuabš (Xachua'bsh or hah-choo-AHBSH, "the People of the Large Lake", now of the Duwamish tribe) had the village of TLEHLS ("minnows" or "shiners") on the shores of what is now called Wolf Bay in Windermere
Windermere, Seattle, Washington
Windermere is a well-to-do residential neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, named after Windermere in England's Lake District. It is bounded on the north by Magnuson Park, part of Sand Point; on the northwest by Sand Point Way N.E., beyond which is Hawthorne Hills; on the southwest by Ivanhoe Place...
, on Lake Washington south of SqWsEb, now called Sand Point-Magnuson Park. BEbqwa'bEks ("small prairie"—anthropogenic grassland) was near what is now Windermere. One or three sizable longhouses
Native American long house
Longhouses were built by native peoples in various parts of North America, sometimes reaching over but generally around wide. The dominant theory is that walls were made of sharpened and fire-hardened poles driven into the ground and the roof consisted of leaves and grass...
have been documented. Villages were diffuse. These people may have been associated with the hloo-weelh-AHBSH of Union Bay. Just on the other side of Sand Point, the village of too-HOO-beed was of the too-oh-beh-DAHBSH extended family, near what is now called Thornton Creek
Thornton Creek
Thornton Creek is 18 miles of urban creeks and tributaries from southeast Shoreline through northeast Seattle to Lake Washington. The creek is the largest watershed in Seattle, draining a region of relatively dense biodiversity for an urban setting, home to frogs, newts, ducks, other birds, and...
at what is now Matthews Beach
Matthews Beach, Seattle, Washington
Matthews Beach is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington; it and Meadowbrook are the southern neighborhoods of the annexed township of Lake City...
, so Sand Point was their shared "side yard".
The park also has a history of unofficial clothing-optional use since the mid 1970s. Sporadic and quiet use is in the northeast part of the Park, east of NOAA. Long-term volunteer efforts continue toward enhancing safe and legal use. Magnuson Beach Bares as MagnusonBeach.org has recently begun posting organized events for these purposes (August 2006). Magnuson Park is one of about two dozen locations in Seattle.
Further reading
- Dolan, Maria and True, Kathryn (2003). "Wide Open Spaces: Sand Point Magunson Park" in Nature in the city: Seattle, pp. 224–231. Seattle: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-879-3 (paperback)
- Walter, Sunny and local Audubon chapters (updated 10 February 2006). "Sunny Walter's Washington Nature Weekends: Wildlife Viewing Locations - Greater Seattle Area". Retrieved 21 April 2006. Walter excerpted from Dolan, Maria & True, Kathryn (2003). Nature in the city: Seattle. Seattle: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-879-3 (paperback).
[with additions by Sunny Walter and local Audubon chapters.]
External links
- Friends of Magnuson Park
- Magnuson Park, Seattle Parks and Recreation
- "The Fin Project"