Lincoln Park

Click to skip down to:

HOURS

4 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.

ABOUT THE PARK

“Lincoln Park is West Seattle’s major multi-purpose park – a nose-shaped bluff on Puget Sound just north of the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal. Switchbacks on the north and gentle trails to the south connect a mile of seawalled, rocky beaches to a bluff of grassy forests and meadows with play and picnic areas galore.” Amazingly diverse for its size, Lincoln includes 4.6 miles of walking paths, 3.9 miles of bike trails, five picnic shelters, acres of playfields, and an outdoor heated saltwater pool and bathhouse.”

(Excerpt from "Enjoying Seattle's Parks" by Brandt Morgan)

HISTORY

Lincoln Park was called Fauntleroy Park until 1922, when the city bought it. The popularity of the name Fauntleroy in this area springs from the passions of Lieutenant George Davidson, who was taking soundings off the bluff in 1857. Davidson had temporarily left his fiancée', Ellinor Fauntleroy, back in Illinois.

The park was put together piecemeal over the years as West Seattle developed: as shelter in 1925; parking areas in 1928; a playground in 1930; seawalls, trails, fireplaces, and horseshoe pits during the Depression; and major additions just after WWII, as people streamed into the area to work in the burgeoning Boeing aircraft plant in the Duwamish Valley.

The heated, saltwater Colman Pool began as a tide-fed swimming hole in 1929, and was periodically hosed out by the fire department to rid it of accumulating mud and debris. It became so popular that residents began asking for a concrete bottom and sides - much to the chagrin of the city, which wanted to abandon it entirely. The pool took final concrete form in 1941, when Kenneth Colman, son of Laurence, donated $150,000 to have it built in honor of his father.

(Edited from the files of Don Sherwood, 1916-1981, Park Historian.)

DIRECTIONS

BY BUS

> Plan a trip to Lincoln Park

BY CAR

I-5 North/South Bound:

• Take the West Seattle exit.
• Stay to the left if you are heading North on I-5; stay to the right if you are heading South on I-5.
• Follow the signs to Fauntleroy Way SW.
• Stay on Fauntleroy Way SW until you come to the Park on the right hand side of the street. You can also follow the signs for Vashon Ferry - the ferry terminal is south of the Park (you will come to the Park before you get to the ferry terminal.)

Lot is located at the south end and additional lots along Fauntleroy SW as well as on-street parking.