Community Corner
Brackett's Landing Park
With summer weather finally arriving, Edmonds residents are shedding their fleece, donning shorts and T-shirts, and venturing out to our beachfront parks. Brackett's Landing, one of our most popular stretches of public beach, has an interesting history.
In 1870, George Brackett could hardly have imagined that the beach where he was forced ashore by high winds would one day bear his name and be a key piece of a comprehensive city park system.
Brackett returned to the site of his beaching two years later and paid $650 for 147 acres of beach and prime timberland. Within a few years, he built a small wharf at the foot of today’s Bell Street, and soon added a sawmill and loading dock near the present-day ferry terminal (see Patch article “”).
The mill was destroyed by fire in the early 1890’s, but the wharf escaped the flames (see Patch article “”). Despite being inaccessible at low tide, it remained Edmonds’ primary boat landing until City Wharf was completed in 1902.
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Brackett’s Wharf remained in use, however, and eventually became part of the Edmonds Boat House. The Boat House operated for many years, but fell into disuse in the 1970’s.
In 1979, a Citizens Task Force recommended establishing Brackett’s Landing Park on the site, and in 1980 the City of Edmonds declared it a marine sanctuary. In 1988, the last pilings of the original Brackett’s Wharf were removed to make way for construction of the new breakwater, which replaced the old jetty built in 1952 and 1953.
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In 1997, the City of Edmonds expanded the park to the old Anderson Marine site just south of the ferry dock, designating this new area Brackett’s Landing South. In 2009, in recognition of its historic significance, Brackett’s Landing was formally added to the Edmonds Register of Historic Places (see the full ordinance here).
Today Brackett’s Landing Park is arguably Edmonds’ best-known and best-used stretch of public beach. It is the preferred jumping-off point for Scuba divers to explore Edmonds’ unique underwater park. (Armchair scuba divers: View the attached You Tube video for an amazing underwater tour!) On any given day, the park is filled with walkers, children playing in the sand, photographers, bird watchers, and folks just wanting a quiet moment to contemplate the scenery.
I think George Brackett would be pleased.