Mercer Island, WA Plumber

A little Mercer Island history

The western side of the island was home to two Snoqualmie villages prior to white settlement in the Puget Sound region.[9] Mercer Island, named for the Mercer family of Seattle, was first settled by non-indigenous people between 1870 and 1880. The Mercer brothers often rowed between the island and Seattle to pick berries, hunt, and fish. Those brothers, Thomas Mercer and Asa Mercer, were members of the Mercer family of Virginia. The first large settlement, East Seattle, was toward the northwest side of the island—near the McGilvara neighborhood. During 1889, a C C Calkins built a large and gilded resort, the Calkins Hotel. The hotel was reached via steamboat between Madison Park, Leschi Park, and the Eastside. Guests included President Benjamin Harrison, of 1901, amongst other well-to-do dignitaries from Seattle to the East Coast of the United States. Burned by a mysterious fire, the hotel was razed during 1908.

The Calkins Landing continued service and presumably aided the establishment of a more permanent population. A denser urban community with business district developed toward the central northern island between the McGilvra neighborhood and Luther Burbank Park. This community now composes the majority of the island's crest through the Middle Island neighborhood.

In 1923, the East Channel Bridge was built to connect the island with Bellevue. In 1930, George W. Lightfoot requested a bridge between Mercer Island and Seattle. The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, currently the second longest floating bridge in the world, was built and opened in 1940. In 1989, a second bridge, the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, was built parallel to the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge. The East Channel Bridge, Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, and Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, carry Interstate 90 from Seattle, across Mercer Island, and into Bellevue.

The City of Mercer Island was incorporated from East Seattle on July 5, 1960, and comprised all the island minus the 70-acre (280,000 m2) business district. Just over one month later, August 9, the Town of Mercer Island was incorporated from that business district. The two aforementioned municipalities merged as the City of Mercer Island on May 19, 1970.