Alki Point Lighthouse

Alki Point, today part of West Seattle, stretches into Puget Sound to form the southern boundary of Elliott Bay. It is part of a much larger area originally inhabited by the Duwamish Indians. In September 1851, members of the Denny Party, later founders of Seattle, settled the land. One of the group, Charles Terry (1829-1867), claimed it under the Donation Land Claim Act. In 1857, Terry sold it to Dr. David Maynard (1808-1873), who later sold it to the farmer Hans Martin Hanson (1821-1900). According to legend, it was Hanson who in the 1870s hung the first lantern to mark the hazardous Alki shoals and the southern entrance into Elliott Bay. In 1913, a lighthouse was constructed on Alki Point. The Alki Point Light Station, which remains essentially the same today as when it was built, is on the National Register of Historic Places.