In 1855, Esther Short donated to the City of Vancouver what is now Esther Short Park and a long strip of waterfront property. This parcel of land was to be used for economic development and to preserve public access to our beautiful waterfront. The site of the Vancouver Waterfront Park has changed dramatically over the centuries, having served both commerce and community. The Michigan Mill was built in 1889 to process lumber and was later renamed the Pittock and Leadbetter Lumber Mill. In 1922, it was reincorporated as the Columbia River Paper Company and finally became the Boise Cascade Corporation paper mill in 1962. The lumber mill supported a large, sprawling complex along the waterfront and included several mill buildings, steam dry kiln, machine shop, furnace, lumber sheds and storage yard. The Boise Cascade paper mill closed in 2006. The property was purchased by Columbia Waterfront LLC in 2008. The site will be developed into a mixed-use development including office, retail and living space, beginning an exciting new chapter. Development of the Vancouver Waterfront Park hearkens back to the original vision and and builds on a similar re-establishment of public access to the water accomplished in 2008 with dedication of the Vancouver Land Bridge, a component of the Confluence Project.
Green Lake was named by David Phillips, who surveyed the area in September 1855 for the United States Surveyor General. His first notes referred to it as "Lake Green" because even in its natural state the lake is prone to algae blooms. The Duwamish called it dxWTLusH, a Lushootseed word of unknown meaning.[1] Green Lake in 2015 with blue line showing the shoreline in 1911 before the water level was lowered The lake has a surface area of 259 acres (1.05 km2), a mean depth of 13 feet (3.8 m), and a maximum depth of 30 feet (9.1 m). The lake has been dredged in order to maintain its depth. Green Lake lacks both surface water inflows and outflows. It once drained into Lake Washington via Ravenna Creek, but in 1911 the water level was lowered by 7 feet (2.1 m) to create parkland, causing the creek to dry up between Green Lake and Cowen Park. Ravenna Boulevard and its wide, grassy median were constructed over the creek bed. The lake is now fed by rainfall, storm runoff, and Seattle's municipal water supply. The area was originally homesteaded by various pioneers, the first being Erhart Sarfried, "Green Lake John." Sarfried subdivided his homestead in 1888 and sold the land to various entrepreneurs. W.D. Wood built an "amusement park" on the west side of the lake (which never amounted to more than a glorified lawn for picnics). On the east side of the lake, A.L. Parker logged the woods and built a sawmill. Edward C. Kilbourne built the first trolley line connecting the area to the city, the route of which is now Green Lake Way North. The trolley lines kept growing, until by 1910 they extended completely around the lake and a round trip could be made on a separate line going back to the city. In July 2008, several metal spikes up to 3 feet (0.91 m) in length were found along the bottom of the lake, injuring one person who accidentally stepped on them.[2] The Seattle Parks Department later confirmed that the spikes were from a forgotten pilot program to control the growth of Eurasian water milfoil in Green Lake. The invasive aquatic plant had first appeared in the lake in the early 1980s. In 1984, the Parks Department installed 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of black plastic sheeting along the bottom of the lake, using the spikes to hold the sheeting in place. The spikes originally had curved tips to prevent injury, but the tips had corroded and broken off. The city paid a team of divers to remove the remaining spikes in late July 2008.[3] Throughout the course of the investigation, it was revealed that the city had also tried combating the milfoil with weed-eating fish, but hadn't made any serious efforts in the past 15 years aside from occasionally paying divers to pull the weeds by hand.
The Phantom 3 has a 2.7K HD camera, live video feed to smart phone, and live GPS that sends its position to a GPS map on your mobile device.