Edmount Island

Edmount Island and bridge in 1925
Ballinger lodge on Edmount Island, 1915

Edmount Island, also called Ballinger Island,[a] is a 3-acre (1.2 ha) island in Lake Ballinger, in the Seattle suburbs of south Snohomish County, in the U.S. state of Washington.[2]

A home was constructed on the island c. the early 1900s, in which lived settlers Ira Bartholemew and Julia Bartholomew, who may have built it as a hunting lodge,[3][4] then Seattle mayor Richard A. Ballinger and Julia Ballinger during the summers, and Richard Achilles' father Col. Richard Henry Ballinger (from whom the lake the island is situated in is named for), a U.S. Civil War veteran. The Bartholomews were from Pennsylvania and homesteaded the lake island in 1862[5] – "perhaps, the only homestead of its kind in the entire country" – requiring the United States government to re-survey the land which did not exist in official records.[6] A land patent was issued in 1902.[5] At one time, a wooden bridge linked the west shore to the island.[7]

As of the 2010s, the island is part of Mountlake Terrace's Ballinger Park.[3] The home and lodge are no longer standing.[8][9] The island is made of peat, which was completely engulfed in a runaway barbecue fire during a summer heat wave in 2009.[10] Since the fire, the island has been closed to public access, with emergency access provided by the local fire department's rigid inflatable boat.[11]

  1. ^ 2017 United States Geological Survey 1:24,000 topographic quad "Edmonds East" via TopoView web tool
  2. ^ Stevick, Eric (May 7, 2019). "Herbicides might be used to kill milfoil in Lake Ballinger". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Ballinger Park Boat and Fishing Access" Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine. City of Mountlake Terrace. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  4. ^ "Beautiful suburban property near Lake Ballinger to be put on market soon". Seattle Sunday Times. April 18, 1915 – via Paul Dorpat's Seattle Now and Then blog.
  5. ^ a b U.S. Bureau of Land Management, WASAA 072255, May 20, 1862, issued May 1, 1902: Homestead Entry Original (12 Stat. 392), accessed via BLM General Land Office (GLO) Records Automation web site https://glorecords.blm.gov
  6. ^ Gaeng, Betty Lou (December 15, 2018). "Looking Back: Ira and Julia Bartholomew, Mountlake Terrace pioneers". My Edmonds News.
  7. ^ Shoreline Historical Museum, caption on 1919 photograph, Flickr ID 4690429847
  8. ^ Gaeng, Betty Lou (January 14, 2019). "Looking Back: Mountlake Terrace and the Ballinger story". My Edmonds News.
  9. ^ Dorpat, Paul (August 24, 2013). "Lake Ballinger". Seattle Now and Then.
  10. ^ McNerthney, Casey (July 29, 2009). "BBQ catches Lake Ballinger island on fire". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  11. ^ "MARINE RESPONSE: Marine 16". South Snohomish County Fire. Retrieved 2020-01-10.


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