Herring's House Park & Terminal 107 Path

Herring’s House Park & Terminal 107 Path

April 8, 2010
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Location: West Seattle
Address: W. Marginal Way S.W. and S.W. Alaska
Acreage: 5.6

I just love a park that’s called Herring’s House. I guess it calls to my Scandinavian heritage.

It also speaks to the heritage of the Duwamish people who once lived on this site. “Tohl-ahl-too” is the word for “Herring House” for the Duwamish.

Archaeologists think people have been living in this spot for at least 1,400 years and probably lived off salmon and other fish they caught in the river, which was a much rougher waterway in the past.

This area has some interesting history, and the land’s uses have changed dramatically over the past 150 years. In the late 1800s it was built up with small homes, and then squatter shacks appeared.

The northern end was the site of one of Seattle’s first lumber mills, Seabord Lumber, in the 1920s. The southern part was a brick factory. It was also an area of illegal activity. During Prohibition, people would sell booze from their houseboats just offshore on the Duwamish.

In 2000 an effort began to totally restore this spot, and today the result is a wonderful waterfront park with great wildlife viewing. Bald eagles are regularly spotted nearby. Osprey like to nest in the foliage. Restored intertidal habitats are slowly allowing for fish species to return, although fishing of many species is still strongly not recommended.

Although it feels like one park, the city actually owns the northern part of this waterfront stretch. A trail connects to the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 107 Path. Take a slow loop through these parks to catch all its great aspects or enjoy your lunch at one of several picnic tables. Don’t miss the large wooden schooner, a model of early 1900s Seattle fishing boats, that’s displayed overhead near one of the entrances.

People For Puget Sound deserves credit for this spot’s dramatic return to a more natural state.

#150 & 151 (Visited 4/8/10)