Seattle’s Green Lake

Discovered in 1855, Green Lake has been an essential feature within Seattle’s distinctive juxtaposition of landscape architecture and urban expansion, providing recreation and community focus for the last 150 years. Named after the persistent algae bloom that still occurs, the lake is a valuable natural landmark at the center of a neighborhood in transition, and its past is threaded with tenacious organizations and ambitious individuals. From its first homesteader, Erhart Green Lake John Saifried, to the vision of the Olmsted brothers, from Guy Phinney’s menagerie to the triumph and tragedy of Helene Madison, from ice-skating to the Aqua Follies, this broad collection of vintage images illustrates a bygone era and provides a unique perspective on community values and ecological struggle.