Short History Of Union Bay

The Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) published this information in a recent newsletter:

LCC Centennial Feature: History of Union Bay
Researched and written by Jim Rupp, LCC trustee

A special bonus of living in Laurelhurst is having ready access to Union Bay. Whether by walking or boating along its shores, Union Bay always provides interesting sights to see for all ages, all year-round. I’ve been paddling boats around there since I was about twelve. That adds up to more than half a century of observing a wide collection of wildlife – from beavers, otters and muskrats, to eagles and ospreys, to noisy bullfrogs and sunning turtles, and a wide collection of migratory birds.

When I was a kid, I used to tell my dad that I was going out to the swamp. “It’s not a swamp,” he’d say. “It’s a marsh.” He was right of course. The marsh is the wetland along the edge of the bay where you see lots of cattails and other plants without woody stems. The swamp is Yesler Swamp, at the northwest corner of the bay, which is a forested wetland that is sometimes partially flooded. Fortunately, you can walk through it on the Yesler Swamp Trail, which provides good points for wildlife viewing.

The Union Bay marsh has survived many onslaughts over the years. From the 1880s to the 1920s The Yesler sawmill operated in the area around what is now the Urban Horticulture Center. A garbage dump operated on the northwestern edge from 1926 to 1966, and two 520 bridges have been constructed over its southern edge, the original one opening in 1963. In their 1951 book, Union Bay, 

The Life of a City Marsh, naturalists Harry Higman and Earl Larrison describe a plethora of wildlife in the marsh. There was a lot more to see back then, but there’s still plenty to observe and enjoy. 

A more current view from a birder’s perspective can be found in splendid books written by LLC board member Connie Sidles. And don’t miss seeing Larry Hubbell’s impressive photos of Union Bay wildlife.  

Union Bay has also withstood the adverse effects of DDT, which was once used to fight Seattle mosquitos. I remember looking out the window in the sixties and seeing a fog of DDT following a spraying truck as it went down the hill towards East Laurelhurst Drive. Among other adverse environmental effects, DDT made the eggshells of birds of prey so brittle that they could not survive. As a result, we rarely saw eagles or ospreys back then. They are now common. Turtle sightings were also rare, although I’m not sure why. Now one can see a dozen turtles along the shoreline. All nice changes. 

An outing along the shores of Union Bay, whether by water or land, will be time well spent for both adults and children.