Heritage Corner

Heritage Corner is a weekly feature of the Bellevue Reporter. Material is provided by the Eastside Heritage Center.

Bellevue Area Place Names: Part Three

This week we conclude our series of articles on local place names.

Northup: The road (Northup Way) and the region are named after the Northup family who homesteaded on Yarrow Point in the 1870s and 1980s.

Phantom Lake: The “phantom” was actually the result of a drainage ditch. Originally, the area between Larsen Lake and Phantom Lake was a bog. A German immigrant to the area in the 1880s decided that the ground was too marshy, and he dug a ditch to drain the excess water into Lake Sammamish.

It worked, but eerie columns of vapor would rise from the canal in the early mornings and glide over the lake.

Sturtevant Lake: This was the original name for Lake Bellevue, and it appears on most Bellevue maps prior to the 1970s. Like many of the locations in Bellevue, this was named for a 19th century settler, Clark Sturtevant.

Wilburton: Named for Manly Wilbur, who established a logging company on the hill in the early 1900s, this town once boasted a population of about 400.

In its heyday the town had its own school, hotel and grocery store.

Yarrow Point: In 1888, Leigh S. J. Hunt built an estate on this peninsula and named it “Yarrow” after a series of poems by William Wordsworth.

Gradually, the name “Yarrow” was applied to the entire point.

Did we miss any? To learn more about Bellevue and Eastside history, or to request information about a local place name, contact the Eastside Heritage Center at 425-450-1049.

You can also visit the Heritage Center online at www.EastsideHeritageCenter.org.