Lake Union - The Inside Story
Lake Union has been in existence for about 13,000 years. It was scoured out by the Vashon Glacier. People have been living around it for close to 10,000 years but not until now has the lake been comprehensively surveyed.
The lake and its shorelines have many stories to tell. We know the deer came down to drink where Gasworks Park is; the elk came in the spring to munch on skunk cabbage near Portage Bay; where the first people had long houses and set up nets on poles to capture water fowl; Bill Boeing started a little aircraft business at the foot of Roanoke Street. We know Seattle’s first railway, first streetcar, first water pedestrian ferry and first garbage dump were at the south end of the lake. It seems eminently logical that since we know the history of the lakes shoreside, it’s now time to begin looking at what exactly is inside the lake.
That is what The Center for Wooden Boats is doing, with the help of over 40 individuals, government agencies, organizations, institutes and corporations. Our goal is to identify and interpret the inside of Lake Union. We see the lake as a cultural and natural museum that is yet to be recognized. We will follow museum protocols and appropriate laws of underwater archeology. Very few, if any, material objects will be removed. At this phase our mission is to record the submerged historic resources. In the future, cooperating with the appropriate agencies, some artifacts may be recovered for curation and interpretation. The public can tour our underwater museum through this website, talks, photos, videos & publications on the material artifacts we have found. We will also take samples of the water and the silt bottom to give reports on the chemistry of the lake. We will provide data on the living creatures, indigenous and invasive. The Inside Story will be connected to the history of the lake since the first people. The information we offer will give Lake Union the identity it deserves and may be the basis for community stewardship of the lake.
Learn more about this project:
- Learn more about the vessels and artifacts that we have found
- Learn more about underwater archaeology
- Read an interview with the divers for this project on KUOW
In the future you will also be able to:
- Hear stories of people who remember the boats that sank
- Hear interviews with divers and archaeologists
