Mercer Island

Ads

Mercer Island, Washington

Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, U.S.A. The population was 22,036 at the 2000 census. It is also the name of the island in Lake Washington with which the city is coterminous.

History

Mercer Island was first settled by non-Natives 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.

Geography

Mercer Island is located at (47.569271, -122.232337).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 34.0 km² (13.1 mi²). 16.5 km² (6.4 mi²) of it is land and 17.4 km² (6.7 mi²) of it (51.33%) is water.

Mercer Island is the most populated island in a lake in the United States.

Bridges

Mercer Island is connected to Seattle in the west by Interstate 90, carried by the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge (the fifth longest floating bridge in the world) and the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge (the second longest in the world). I-90 also connects Mercer Island to Bellevue in the east, carried by the East Channel Bridge.

Education

The Mercer Island School District operates six schools on the island: three elementary schools (Lakeridge Elementary, Island Park Elementary and West Mercer Elementary) one middle school (Islander Middle School), one high school (Mercer Island High School), and one alternative high school (Crest Learning Center).

Mercer Island is also home to the St. Monica School(K-8), the French American School of Puget Sound (P-8), and the Northwest Yeshiva High School (9-12).

There are also several preschools on Mercer Island.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 22,036 people, 8,437 households, and 6,277 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,333.6/km² (3,452.0/mi²). There were 8,806 housing units at an average density of 532.9/km² (1,379.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.09% white, 1.14% African American, 0.16% Native American, 11.87% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from other races, and 2.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.86% of the population.

There were 8,437 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.6% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 29.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $91,904, and the median income for a family was $110,830. Males had a median income of $82,855 versus $46,734 for females. The per capita income for the city was $53,799. About 1.9% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 2.3% of those age 65 or over.

Tourist attractions

Mercer Island has a few tourist attractions

The Mercer (apartment complex & shopping area)
Island Square (apartment complex & shopping area)
The Lid (park)
Luther Burbank Park (park)
Freeway Sculpture park
Pioneer Park
Mercer Island community center
Dragon Park
Youth Theater Northwest
Lake Washington
Clarke Beach

Sister city

Mercer Island's Sister City, as designated by Sister Cities International, is Thonon-les-Bains, France.

Annual events

Mercer Island is focal to annual performances by the Blue Angels during Seattle's summer Seafair celebration.
Summer Celebration is a celebration once a year on the weekend after the 4th of July. The celebration ends with fireworks.