How Washington Place Names Came To Be

How Washington Place Names Came To Be: From The Untamed Olympics, by Ruby El Hult, 1954   (GV= George Vancouver)

Strait of Juan de Fuca – 1592, Portuguese captain/sailor first to sail into the Sound

Heceta Head – 1862, Bruno Heceta, Capt. of Spanish ship/exploration

Destruction Island – 1775, Spanish men went ashore for wood/water were killed

Mt. Olympus – for Greek god, Capt. John Meares, 1788

Port Discovery – Capt. George Vancouver, 1790

Dungeness Spit – Capt. GV, 1792, rem’d him of Dungeness on English Channel

Port Angeles – “Puerto de Neuestra Senorade Los Angeles” 1791 by Francisco de Eliza…. Officially changed 1862

Port Townsend – Capt. GV, 1792, "in honor of noble marquis of that name”

Mt Rainier – Capt. GV, for his old friend Capt. Peter Rainier

Hood Canal – Capt. GV, “Right Honorable Lord Hood” ---- GV, thinking of his homeland, “named many places for friends and English noblemen of his acquaintance.”

Puget Sound – Lt. Peter Puget, with GV, 1792 by Capt. GV

Gray’s Harbor – Capt. Robert Gray, first to sail into Columbia River, 1792

Port Gamble – Wilkes Expedition, 1841, unsure if John or Robert Gamble, 1868 after founding of Pope/Talbot mill 1853

Renton – Capt. Wm Renton, pioneer of Seattle area, 1875

Camano Island –1847, in honor of Francisco de Eliza, 1790

O’Leary Creek, flows into Gray’s Harbor—1850, Irishman Wm O’Leary

Lake Crescent – 1890, crescent-shape

Crescent Beach – 1892, town laid out as deep water lumber shipping port; razed 1920s as part of coast defense system

Lake Sutherland – John Sutherland, 1865, Canadian fur trapper

Ebey – Col. Isaac N. Ebey, first permanent resident Whidbey Island, 1851

Seattle – Chief Sealth

Kingston – 1853, originally Apple Tree Cove

Mt Baker – 1792, Joseph Baker sailed with Capt. GV

Winthrop – Theodore Winthrop, 1853, traveling journalist

Denney – Arthur Denney, representative for WA Terr

Lauridsen – G.M. Lauridsen. Danish world traveler, bought lots in Port Angeles

Elliott Bay – Prof D B. Elliott, 1898, from Chicago Field Museum to study

Everett – John Everett, came with fur trappers, 1890

LaPush – French, la bouche, the mouth so said but WRONG

Fidalgo – Salvador Fidalgo early sailor 1790s

Forks – 1912, laid out by early homesteaders

McCleary – Henry McCleary, 1898

I gleaned these bits/answers from Ruth's book; I did not fact-check them with Google. Begs a good point:  do we swallow so-called facts without checking their veracity???