WARREN G. MAGNUSON PARK
History - Mid 1800s Exploration

• 1850 first likely Euro-American sighting of the peninsula by Isaac Ebey (1818-1857), afterwards the name Sand Point used for the area
  
• 1855 -August, John R. Neal or William A. Strickler from the U.S. Government Land Office, and a five-member crew, surveyed Sand Point
  
• Described the following natural and geographic features in and around Sand Point:
  
  • From the approximate point of 55th Avenue NE and NE 65th Street, heading east they encountered an alder grove which extended to the north and south
  • One-quarter mile further east they encounter a Douglas fir forest with trees ranging in size from two to six feet in diameter.
  • At approximately NE 65th Street and Sand Point Way NE, the surveyors entered a swamp that extended nearly to Lake Washington. Wetlands stretched from this point one-quarter mile to the north (approximately NE 70th Street)
  • Following a section line due north along 55th Avenue they encountered fir trees ranging from two to six feet in diameter and cedar trees at least 40 inches in diameter
  • Along this one mile section they crossed two streams both about 20 inches wide, one just north of NE 75th Street and another just north of NE 80th Street. Both streams emptied into a bay later called Pontiac Bay
  • Surveyors noted a small lake within the swamp (later called Mud Lake)