Portage Bay is a body of water, often thought of as the eastern arm of Lake Union , that forms a part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle , Washington .
25-737: To the east, Portage Bay is connected with Union Bay —a part of Lake Washington —by the Montlake Cut , over which spans the Montlake Bridge carrying State Route 513 . To the north is the campus of the University of Washington . To the west, Portage Bay is spanned by the University Bridge , which carries Eastlake Avenue between Eastlake and the University District . Its westernmost limit can be said to be
50-578: A gondola ramp and esplanade on the north shores of Portage Bay. For 14 years following World War II, the Fantome was stranded in Portage Bay pending payment to King County of back taxes. A university police station was located on the north shore of Portage Bay until the 2010s, when it was demolished to make way for a public park. Fritz Hedges Waterway Park opened in October 2020, using funding from
75-547: A large shipping harbor. Local landowners began digging a canal on their land, following the trail that the Duwamish tribe had created between the two lakes. However in 1903, after 30 years of discussion, it was decided by the Army Corps of Engineers that this plan would not be feasible because there would be a need for two locks to maintain the height of Lake Washington and Lake Union. Ten years later, Major C. W. Kutz of
100-655: Is a body of water located in Seattle, Washington . Part of Lake Washington , it is bounded by the Laurelhurst neighborhood to the north and the Montlake and Madison Park neighborhoods to the south. The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge , which carries State Route 520 , crosses over a portion of the bay. Marsh Island and Foster Island are located in Union Bay, and are connected to the mainland (and each other) by
125-477: Is now called Foster Island. The village was at the northeast tip of what is now Madison Park . One of the longhouses (forerunners of cohousing for tens of people) may have been used as a potlatch house. The Duwamish Tribe is today leveraging the sacred site in the path of substantial enlargement of State Route 520 through south Union Bay between Redmond and Interstate 5 , in their quest for recognition. The prominent village of SWAH-tsoo-gweel ("portage")
150-657: Is part of the Montlake neighborhood. Before the creation of the Montlake Cut, the land was regularly used by the Duwamish tribe and the holds important history within the tribe, that is commonly overlooked. Before the construction of the Montlake Cut, it was known by the Duwamish as "Carry a Canoe" ( Lushootseed : sxWátSadweehL). Indigenous people had been portaging between the lakes for centuries, either carrying canoes or shoving them along an intermittent creek that appeared when Lake Washington overflowed. This creek
175-525: Is the easternmost section of the Lake Washington Ship Canal , which passes through the city of Seattle , linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound . It opened in 1916 after 56 years of conversation and construction to create the manmade canal. The path along the cut was designated a National Recreation Trail as Montlake Cut National Waterside in 1971. The cut provides a connection between Union Bay , part of Lake Washington, to
200-580: The Arboretum Waterfront Trail and the Foster Island Trail. Union Bay ends at the eastern opening of the Montlake Cut , which connects Union Bay with Portage Bay (an arm of Lake Union ) to the west—this marks the beginning of the Lake Washington Ship Canal , which runs through Seattle and connects Lake Washington to Puget Sound . Broken Island is adjacent to Husky Stadium and was formed in 1916 when Lake Washington
225-740: The Ship Canal Bridge , which carries Interstate 5 over the water; past this bridge, the body of water is deemed to be Lake Union. In the southern portion, Portage Bay is spanned by the Portage Bay Viaduct, which carries State Route 520 from the Eastlake/ Capitol Hill district to Montlake . Portage Bay was named in 1913 because of the portage across the Montlake Isthmus that used to be necessary to move logs from Union Bay to Lake Union before
250-618: The Washington State Department of Transportation as part of remediation for the State Route 520 expansion program. The small residential neighborhood of Portage Bay is located on the southwestern shore of the bay. It is bounded on the south by State Route 520 and on the west by Interstate 5 , and features one of the larger remaining enclaves of Houseboats in Seattle. Union Bay (Seattle) Union Bay
275-501: The Army Corps of Engineers wished to move forward with the plan but with only one lock in Ballard. This resulted in great upset and lawsuits over the lowering of Lake Washington that would result from the excavation of the cut. On October 26, 1910, Kutz sent his assistant to set off dynamite at the head of the cut, forcing Lake Washington to be lowered. The Montlake Cut's original name was Erickson Cut. Contractor C. J. Erickson commenced
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#1732787307507300-735: The IMA building), others were around the north shores which were about mile farther north than today, and shores east of what is now the Union Bay Natural Area , with a longhouse or two between what is now the Center for Urban Horticulture and Children's Hospital. Villages were diffuse. Cheshiahud or Lake John and his family were among the memorable residents around Union Bay in the early decades of Seattle. 47°39′N 122°17′W / 47.65°N 122.29°W / 47.65; -122.29 Montlake Cut The Montlake Cut
325-665: The Lake Washington Ship Canal Company, which built a transiting rail line for portaging goods between the lakes. This rail line continued use until 1878. In 1883, David Denny and Thomas Burke had a canal built for floating logs. Cheshiahud lived and carved canoes on the shores of Portage Bay for many years from 1885. In 1909, the Pay Streak, a vaudeville and sideshows section of the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition , ended in
350-427: The Montlake Cut has since recovered, the damages were major at the time. The industrial uses of the Montlake Cut have since decreased, and it is now primarily used for leisure boating and recreational uses. The cut is a popular location of recreational swimming and sunbathing for University of Washington students during the spring and summer. The cut is home to the University of Washington rowing team , serving as
375-504: The big project in turning on his big steam shovel in celebration of the October 27, 1909, post A-Y-P Exposition era, in the final push to complete the Lake Washington Canal project. At the ceremony were Judge Roger S. Greene, Judge Thomas Burke, J. S. Brace and John H. McGraw, who turned the first shovel of dirt that day. The creation of the cut lowered the water level of Lake Washington by 8.8 feet (2.7 m), drained
400-807: The construction of the Ship Canal. The bay is home to two yacht clubs, the Seattle and the Queen City, and many houseboats , as well as the Northwest Fisheries Science Center of the National Marine Fisheries Service and the University of Washington 's College of Ocean and Fishery Science. In 1860 (or, more likely, some time slightly later), landowner Harvey Pike tried to cut the first ditch connecting Lake Washington's Union Bay and Lake Union's Portage Bay, but gave up and deeded his land to
425-409: The east and Portage Bay , an arm of Lake Union , to the west. It is spanned by the Montlake Bridge , a bascule drawbridge carrying Montlake Boulevard ( State Route 513 ). Most of the land on the north shore of the cut is occupied by the University of Washington , its medical school to the west and its stadium parking lot to the east; residences and a recreational trail occupy the south bank, which
450-461: The east main campus of the University of Washington (UW) but for Husky Stadium sit on this land today. What remains of Union Bay Marsh is the restored remnant within the Union Bay Natural Area of the UW. As well as providing the outlet for Lake Washington, Union Bay receives the water of Arboretum Creek , and Ravenna Creek via pipeline from Ravenna Park through south Ravenna , daylighted past
475-413: The opening of the Ship Canal, a good portion of Union Bay and Union Bay Marsh and wetland became dry land , furthered by landfill activities. The marsh and much of the bay was filled from 1911 to 1967. The Montlake Landfill (in use from 1926 to 1967) was the fictional home of television clown J. P. Patches , resident 1958 through 1981. The University Village shopping center (1956) and most of
500-609: The restored Union Bay Natural Area. The shores of what is now Union Bay have been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period , about 10,000 years ago. Ancestors of the Native American Duwamish tribe today, until the 1850s the D kh ’Duw’Absh , "the People of the Inside", of the (Skagit-Nisqually) Lushootseed Coast Salish nations had villages around Union Bay. The village of hehs-KWEE-kweel ("skate")
525-525: The wetlands around the lake, and lowered the lake below the outflow at the Black River , leaving the Black River dry. The effects on the water level of Lake Washington also resulted in a great reduction of the salmon population in the lake. The Black River gave the Duwamish people salmon, which was an important part of their diet and a major part of their spirituality. Although the ecosystem of
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#1732787307507550-467: Was known as the black river and was a large source of food and transportation for the Duwamish tribe. The black river often flooded and destroyed the crops nearby; however, it was clear that its use for transportation was very advantageous. This utility sparked inspiration to create a larger-scale version of the black river that would link Lake Washington and Lake Union with Puget Sound, an idea that would benefit King County economically, allowing it to become
575-405: Was lowered several feet by the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal . The island, and the wetlands in which it sits on the lake's shore, were "the result of conversion of shallow water lake habitats following lake level lowering." The island's soil is mostly peat laid down from earlier times. When the level of Lake Washington was dropped nearly nine feet (2.7 m) in 1916 as a result of
600-495: Was of the hloo-weelh-AHBSH (from s'hloo-WEELH , "a tiny hole drilled to measure the thickness of a canoe"), for the narrow passage through then-large and resource-rich Union Bay marsh. Traces of the marsh survive as the Union Bay Natural Area and the Foster Island area of north Washington Park Arboretum . The trees and the island of Stitici (Stee-tee-tchee) were their ceremonial burial ground. Stitici , Little Island,
625-515: Was on an abundant and much larger Union Bay, and what is now Ravenna was their backyard before the arrival of European settlers, Laurelhurst in summer. The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway was built around 1886 along what is now the Burke-Gilman Trail , following what was the shoreline past where the UW power plant and University Village are today. A longhouse was near the present UW power plant (across Montlake Boulevard from
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