Bitter Lake (Seattle)

About

Bitter Lake (Lushootseed: č̓alq̓ʷadiʔ) is a small lake in northwest Seattle, Washington, USA.

The lake covers 19 acres (77,000 m2), with a mean depth of 16 feet (4.9 m) and a maximum depth of 31 feet (9.4 m). Until 1913, a sawmill was located at its southwest corner. Tannic acid from logs dumped into the lake gave its water a bitter taste and the lake itself a name in English. In Lushootseed, the lake is called č̓alq̓ʷadiʔ, meaning "blackcaps on the sides," as it was a place where people historically came to collect these plants. It was also a refuge site for the Shilshole people when they experienced slave raids coming from the far north, in what is now Alaska and northern British Columbia.