Lake Washington (other)
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Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in
King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...
and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and Kenmore on the north, and encloses Mercer Island. The lake is fed by the Sammamish River at its north end and the Cedar River at its south. Lake Washington received its present name in 1854 after Thomas Mercer suggested it be named after
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, as the new Washington Territory had been named the year before. Earlier names for the lake include the
Duwamish Duwamish may refer to: * Duwamish tribe, a Native American tribe in Washington state * Duwamish River, in Washington state * Duwamish (fireboat), ''Duwamish'' (fireboat) See also * Elliott Bay, often called "Duwamish Bay" in the 19th century * Du ...
name ''Xacuabš'' ( Lushootseed: literally "''xacu''" ''great-amount-of-water + "abš" people''), which referred to peoples who stayed along the coastline of Lake Washington, as well as Lake Geneva by
Isaac N. Ebey Colonel Isaac Neff Ebey (January 22, 1818 – August 11, 1857) was the first permanent white resident of Whidbey Island, Washington. Ebey was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1818. During his childhood Ebey's father, Jacob, moved the family to Adair Co ...
; Lake Duwamish in railroad surveys under Governor
Isaac Stevens Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represen ...
; At-sar-kal in a map sketched by engineer
Abiel W. Tinkham Abiel is the given name of: * Abiel (biblical figure), two minor biblical figures * Abiel Abbot (1770–1828), American clergyman * Abiel Chandler (1777–1851), American merchant * Abiel Foster (1735–1806), American clergyman and politician *Abi ...
; and the Chinook Jargon name, "Hyas Chuck," or "It-Kow-Chug" 'big lake'.Historical Changes to Lake Washington and Route of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, King County, Washington
Michael Chrzastowski, United States Geological Survey, Department of the Interior
The lake provides sport fishing opportunities. Some species found in this lake are Coastal Cutthroat Trout,
Rainbow Trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Yellow Perch, and
Black Crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie in size, shape, and habits, except that it is darker, with a pattern of black sp ...
.


Geography

A ribbon lake, Lake Washington is long, narrow and finger-like. Ribbon lakes are excavated by glaciers. As the Puget lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet flowed south near the end of the
Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...
, it met bands of harder and softer rock. Erosion of the softer rock was faster and a linear depression was created in the flow direction. When the glacier melted, the lake filled with the meltwater, which was retained by
moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...
deposits. A dam can also be created by the bands of harder rock either side of the softer rock. There is usually a river at both ends of a ribbon lake, one being the inlet, and the other, the outlet—though in the case of present-day Lake Washington, inlet rivers are located at both ends, with a man-made outlet in the middle. Two
seaplane base A seaplane base is a type of airport that is located in a body of water, usually a river, bay, harbor, or lake, where seaplanes and amphibious aircraft take-off and land. History Initially following the invention of the seaplane, traditional boat ...
s,
Kenmore Air Harbor Kenmore Air Harbor is a public-use seaplane base at the northern end of Lake Washington and south of the central business district of Kenmore, Washington, U.S. It primarily serves western Washington and parts of southwestern British Columbia. T ...
and
Will Rogers – Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and w ...
, have air travel passenger terminals.


Creeks and rivers

The main inflowing rivers are the Sammamish and Cedar Rivers, with the Cedar supplying most of the water. Seasonal changes in the flow of the Sammamish are moderated by a weir at the Lake Sammamish inlet. The lake is drained by the
Lake Washington Ship Canal The Lake Washington Ship Canal, which runs through the city of Seattle, connects the fresh water body of Lake Washington with the salt water inland sea of Puget Sound. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks accommodate the approximately difference in w ...
. In addition, there are numerous small creeks and rivers which feed the lake, including: * Coal Creek * Denny Creek ( O.O. Denny Park) * Fairweather Creek * Forbes Creek * Juanita Creek * Kelsey Creek * Little Creek * Lyon Creek * Mapes Creek *
May Creek May Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 818 at the 2010 census. Geography May Creek is located at (47.854245, -121.671851). According to the United States Census Bureau ...
*
McAleer Creek McAleer Creek is an urban creek approximately six miles long, flowing from Lake Ballinger in southern Snohomish County to Lake Washington. It drains an approximately watershed.
* Mercer Slough *
Ravenna Creek Ravenna Creek is a stream in the Ravenna, Seattle, Ravenna and Roosevelt, Seattle, Roosevelt neighborhoods of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, whose present Daylighting (streams), daylighted length of nearly is entirely within the Ravenna ...
*
Taylor Creek Taylor Creek or Taylors Creek may refer to: Watercourses ;In United States *Taylor Creek (Lake Tahoe), California * Taylor Creek (Okeechobee, Florida), see Okeechobee, Florida *Taylor Creek (Ohio River), Kentucky * Taylors Creek, Kentucky *Taylor C ...
* Thornton Creek * Yarrow Creek *
Yesler Creek Yesler Creek is a stream that originates in the Bryant and Wedgwood neighborhoods of Seattle, Washington, and flows southward to empty into Union Bay of Lake Washington. Portions are daylighted, such as those flowing between 39th and 40th Avenu ...
Historically, construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal drastically changed the inflow and outflow of the lake. Before construction of the canal in 1916, Lake Washington's outlet was the Black River, which joined the