How Washington Place Names Came To Be: From The Untamed Olympics, by Ruby El Hult, 1954
(GV= George Vancouver)
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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???
Preston Point at the mouth of the Snohomish River at Everett was named after my ancestor Paran Preston. He had a homestead there.