Home > Bitter Lake (Seattle)

The lake covers 19 acres, with a mean depth of 16 feet and a maximum depth of 31 feet. Until 1913, a sawmill was located at its southwest corner. Tannic acid from logs dumped into the lake gave its water a bitter taste and the lake itself a name. The Seattle-to- Everett Interurban trolley reached the lake in 1906, and the Bitter Lake neighborhood was annexed by Seattle in 1954.

The lake itself is situated between Greenwood Avenue N. to the west, Linden Avenue N. to the east, N. 137th Street to the north, and N. 130th Street to the south (latitude 47° 43' 37" N, longitude 122° 21' 03" W).

See Great Bitter Lake for the lake in Egypt's Suez Canal.