Blake Island is a

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

island in

Kitsap County Kitsap County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, and its largest city is Bremerton. The county was formed out of King County and Jefferson County on ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, that is preserved as Blake Island Marine State Park. The island lies north of

Vashon Island Vashon is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,6 ...

, south of

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

, and east of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. On the northeast end of the island is Tillicum Village, a showcase for Northwest Coast Indian arts, culture, and food. The park is managed by the

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission The Washington State Park System is a set of state parks owned by the state government of Washington, USA. They are managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. There are over 140 parks throughout the state, including 19 mari ...

History

Blake Island was used as a camping ground by the

Suquamish The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American people, located in present-day Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish people. Today, most Suquamish people are enrolled in the federally recognized Suquami ...

tribe. In about 1786, according to legend it was the birthplace of

Chief Sealth Chief Seattle ( – June 7, 1866) was a Suquamish and Duwamish chief. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in th ...

, for whom the city of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

was named. The island was first noted by British explorer

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

in 1792, as part of his exploration of Puget Sound, though it was not named. In 1841, Lt.

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

of the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

named it Blake Island for George Smith Blake, the officer in charge of the United States Coast Survey between 1837 and 1848. Locally, it was known as Smuggler's Island. In the mid 19th century, the island was logged for its timber. During the

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, it was frequently used as a refuge for bootleggers smuggling alcohol from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. William Pitt Trimble, a Seattle millionaire, purchased Blake island, and renamed it Trimble Island. By 1917 he and his family lived there in a magnificent estate. The Trimble family invited

Camp Fire Girls Camp Fire, formerly Camp Fire USA and originally Camp Fire Girls of America, is a co-ed youth development organization. Camp Fire was the first nonsectarian, multicultural organization for girls in America. It is gender inclusive, and its prog ...

from Seattle, and throughout Washington state to hold their first summer resident camp on Trimble Island in 1920. The girls named their camp

Camp Sealth Camp Sealth is owned and operated by Camp Fire (organization), Camp Fire, a non-profit youth organization, and located on Vashon Island, Washington (state), Washington. Sealth hosts resident and day camp during the summer, environmental education fo ...

in honor of the birthplace of Chief Sealth. They paid for a delivery of logs, but soon found them floating away at high tide. They scrambled to haul them back, and soon found themselves dealing with a fire on the island. Because the Trimble family had other plans for the island, Camp Fire Girls of Seattle searched for a new, and permanent location for Camp Sealth and by the next summer had moved it to

, where it remains today. The Trimble family's occupation of the island came to an end in 1929 when William Trimble's wife Cassandra died in an accident in Seattle, after which the family abandoned the island and left the house to decay. Trimble sold Blake Island to an investment company in 1936 and retired in Seattle. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a unit of the

Coastal Artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

was garrisoned in the Trimble mansion. The again-abandoned mansion burned around 1948, when a fire built by two young men trying to get warm went out of control, leaving only the foundations visible today. In 1959, the state of Washington made the entire island a state park. In 1993,

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

hosted member economies' leaders on Blake Island for an

APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Meeting.

Activities and amenities

The park is only reachable by tour boat or private watercraft. Park boundaries extend one-quarter of a mile beyond the island's shoreline, providing moorage buoys and diving area. The park's includes five miles of shoreline with views of the

Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easter ...

and the

skyline. The park offers hiking and biking trails, fishing, shellfish harvesting, sports fields, and

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

. The island is home to a variety of wildlife, including deer that sometimes swim from the mainland to the island from Manchester.

References

External links

Blake Island State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Blake Island State Park Map
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission {{authority control Islands of Washington (state) Parks in Kitsap County, Washington Islands of Puget Sound State parks of Washington (state) Landforms of Kitsap County, Washington Protected areas established in 1959

History

Activities and amenities

See also

References

More reading

External links