Perhaps surveyor David Phillips would recognize this spot. He hacked his way through bushes to the muddy banks of a small lake north of Seattle’s Lake Union. His team entered the name Green Lake into their field logs in September 1855. The name Green Lake may derive from the seasonal algae blooms Phillips saw. For 80 years, visitors have talked about the foul-smelling green stuff.
Now you are standing at West Green Lake Beach. This sandy beach is a popular spot for swimming. You may be wondering about the water quality. King County tests the water weekly from mid-May through mid-September. They test for bacteria and toxic algae. Public Health officials may close the beach if bacteria levels are too high. A red marking indicates closure due to high bacteria or harmful algae. A green marking means the beach is open. Grey means data is unavailable.
Erhart Seifried, known as Green Lake John, was the first white settler here. He arrived in 1869. Later, entrepreneurs like E. C. Kilbourne and William D. Wood developed the area. They extended a trolley line and sold lots. An advertisement promised, “Green Lake will be Seattle’s choicest suburb.”
The Olmsted Brothers, a landscape architecture firm, designed a park system for Seattle. Green Lake was one of the pearls in their necklace of parks. John Olmsted called for lowering the lake in 1911. This added 100 acres of dry land.
In the mid-1910s, weekend excursions to Green Lake became popular. People escaped the city here. But civilization took its toll. Tree cutting and homesteading affected the lake. Algae blooms and swimmers’ itch plagued the area. In 1921, the health department closed the beaches.
Green Lake has seen many activities. Outboard motor racing was popular in the 1930s. By the 1980s residents banned hydroplane racing due to noise. Fireworks and the Bite of Seattle also met their end here. Quieter activities have since prevailed.
The Aqua Theatre opened in 1950 on the south shore. It hosted the Aqua Follies and Summer Opera Company. Bob Hope and Bert Parks performed here. The theater lasted until the mid-1960s.
Today, Green Lake Park is the busiest in the state. Walkers, joggers, and cyclists share the trail around the lake. Efforts continue to keep the lake from dying. A blue-green algae bloom in 1999 closed the lake. But it also brought people together to find solutions. Green Lake binds together the North Seattle community.