Alki King County, Washington

Mapped Location

Alki: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on Alki

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Alki

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
Alki Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Alki

References to Alki that document the origin of its place name

Title Cover Image: Origin of Washington geographic names

ALKI POINT, now a part of Seattle, in King County. The first name given this place was "Point Roberts" by the Wilkes Expedition, 1841. It is not clear just what man was sought to be honored. In the crews of the expedition there were four men bearing the name of Roberts - Abraham, Humphrey, Owen, and William. It may have been any one of them. Furthermore it may have been the diplomat, Edward Roberts, who had gained fame in the Orient a few years before. Although the name appeared on a number of early charts, it was supplanted by the first settlers who made their homes there. On November 18, 1851, the famous Denny colony landed on that point. In the party there were twelve adults and twelve children. From that colony has grown the city of Seattle. The settlers were very ambitious. They called the place "New York." As the one little store and the few cabin homes grew so slowly they added a hyphen and the Indian jargon word Alki, meaning "by and bye." New York-Alki meant that it was to become the metropolis of the Pacific Coast in the near future. When a majority of the settlers moved to the east shore. of Elliott Bay and began the city of Seattle, those remaining at the point dropped the name "New York," but Alki Point has remained as a well-established geographic name. For a time the Government charts showed this point as Battery Point. See entry under that name.

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names
Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 4  |  Origin of Washington Geographic Names

 

Related Catalog Titles

A Bibliography for Alki, King County, Washington

Westward to Alki the story of David and Louisa Denny by Gordon R. Newell

Title Cover Image

[6], 122 pages : illustrations, coat of arms, maps, portraits ; 26 cm

CIRC [ 1 ]
Biographies · 1st ed · Superior Publishing Company, Seattle, 1977
Related Catalog Items: Alki · Alki Beach · West Seattle · City of Seattle · King County

 


 

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Last updated: 2017-01-02