Just over five miles long and two miles wide, Mercer Island lies in Lake Washington east of the City of Seattle and west of the City of Bellevue.
About 21,000 people make it their home. Settlement of the island by non-Native Americans began in the late 1870’s. The island was named after one of the three pioneering Mercer brothers from Illinois, all of whom had great influence in the Seattle area. Although none of the brothers lived on Mercer Island, they would often hunt and explore throughout the island’s secluded forests.
The early settlers traveled by rowboats to the neighboring community of Seattle to pick up necessities. An occasional tramp steamer would drop off items that were too large to transport by rowboat.
Courtesy of http://www.mihistory.org.