Voting Home / Alki Point Lighthouse
Nominated for: BEST Lighthouse
nps.gov/history/maritime/light/alki.htm
Alki, the Washington State Motto, is a Chinook Indian word meaning "by and by." In November of 1851, twenty-four people from the schooner Exact, landed at present-day Alki Point and formed a settlement. The settlers called their colony New York, however, when its growth was markedly slower than that of its east coast counterpart, the name was changed to New York-Alki. Today, the community is known simply as Alki. A monument commemorating the landing of the original colonists, which led to the development of the Seattle area, is found at the intersection of Alki Avenue and 63rd Avenue.
Alki Point marks the southern entrance to Seattle's Elliott Bay. A 320-acre parcel of land including the point was sold to Hans Martin Hanson and his brother-in-law Knud Olson in 1868 for $450. At night, they reportedly would light a lamp on the point as a service to mariners. In 1887, the Lighthouse Service finally recognized the need for an official light and placed a lens-lantern atop a wooden post at the point. Hanson was hired to care for the light and was paid $15 a month for his efforts. A lighthouse tender would off-load several barrels of coal oil every six months to fuel the beacon. When Hans passes away in 1900, his son Edmund inherited the property at Alki Point along with the official job of lightkeeper. The family, however, had been sharing responsibility for the light for several years and would continue to do so for some time.
