NEIGHBORHOOD:
MERCER ISLAND ~Search Homes
Mercer Island is an island community with many luxury homes and premier neighborhoods located just between downtown Seattle and the Eastside areas of Bellevue and Issaquah. The population was 22,036 at the 2000 census.
Mercer Island was first settled in the 1870s. It was named after early visitors, the Mercer brothers, who rowed from Seattle often for berry picking, hunting and fishing (Gellaty, 1977).
The first large settlement was on the northwest side of Mercer Island, called "East Seattle." C.C. Calkins built a resort, the Calkins Hotel, in 1889 in East Seattle. This resort led to the development of a ferry dock (Calkins landing), which in turn led to a growing population. While the Calkins hotel burned to the ground in 1908, the ferry service continued, and a small business district prospered.
In the 1930s, George Lightfoot began campaigning for a bridge to Seattle. The Lake Washington Floating Bridge was built in 1940, and this spurred the move of the business district to its present location near the northern end of the island.
The City of Mercer Island incorporated on July 5, 1960. It included all the land area of the island with the exception of the 70 acre (280,000 m²) business district. Just over a month later, on August 9, the business district incorporated as the Town of Mercer Island, wholly surrounded by the City. The two municipalities finally merged on May 19, 1970.
