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1950 Map of Mercer Island

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Mercer Island
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1969
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1969

About this map

Lake Washington surrounds the residential and developing landscapes of the Eastside during a period of significant post-war growth. While Mercer Island City and Bellevue show increasing density, purple revision tints highlight the rapid expansion of suburbs like Newport Hills and Eastgate by the late 1960s. The presence of the Bellevue Airfield and the Northern Pacific railroad line near Wilburton reflects the infrastructure supporting this expansion.

Education and recreation are central to the community fabric, evidenced by numerous local institutions such as Burbank Boys Sch, Sammamish High Sch, and Island Crest Park. Along the southern shores, the State Fish Hatchery on the Bailey Peninsula and the industrial activity near Renton provide a contrast to the wooded hills and smaller water bodies like Phantom Lake and Lake Boren. This survey captures the region just as the Sunset Highway was cementing its role as a primary corridor for the burgeoning metropolitan area.