Longfellow Creek

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Longfellow Creek is a stream in the Delridge district of West Seattle, in Seattle, Washington. It runs about 3.38 miles (5.4 km) from Roxhill Park north to the Duwamish West Waterway at Elliott Bay. The Duwamish called the creek "Smelt" (Lushootseed: t7áWee), denoting smelt fish (Hypomesus pretiosus). The creek was a traditional fishery dating back to the 1300s.[1]

Longfellow Creek is one of the four largest in urban Seattle, 2,685 acres (1,087 ha). It flows north from the Roxhill Park neighborhood for several miles along the valley of the Delridge neighborhoods of West Seattle, turning east to reach the Duwamish Waterway via a 3,300 ft (1006 m) pipe beneath the Nucor plant (formerly Bethlehem Steel).

Salmon began returning without intervention as soon as toxic input was ended and barriers were removed, after having been extinguished for 60 years. Construction of a fish ladder at the north end of the West Seattle Golf Course will allow spawning salmon up along the fairways. Farther upstream the city has been enlarging and building more storm-detention ponds, recreation areas, and an outdoor-education center at Camp Long[1].[2]

The creek first emerges at the 10,000-year-old Roxhill Bog, south of the Westwood Village shopping center. Three acres of open upland, wetland and wooded space just east of Chief Sealth High School in Westwood is the first daylight of Longfellow Creek. It has been the location of some plant and tree restoration since 1997.[3] After more than a decade of preparation by hundreds of neighborhood volunteers, a restoration and 4.2 mile (6.7 km) legacy trail was completed in 2004. Further improvement by removal of invasive vegetation is ongoing as native species retake hold. Blue heron and coyote can be seen.[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Thrush, Coll (2007). Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place. University of Washington Press, p. 234. ISBN 0-295-98700-6. 
  2. ^ (1) Dietrich, William. "Stream Salvation", "Living: Our Northwest", Pacific Northwest magazine, The Seattle Times, 2000-04-16. Retrieved on 2006-04-21.  (2) ["Longfellow Creek". > Drainage & Sewer System. Seattle Public Utilities (n.d.). Retrieved on 2006-04-21.
    Includes an overview and a sketch map.
    Creek Restoration Home
  3. ^ "Native Plant Stewardship Program". 2000 and 2001 Native Plant Steward Projects, P-Z. Washington Native Plant Society (2004-10-12 revised). Retrieved on 2006-04-21.
    Thistle St. Longfellow Creek Greenspace
  4. ^ True, Kathryn (2005-08-18). "The poetry of Longfellow Creek". TRAVEL / OUTDOORS. The Seattle Times. Retrieved on 2006-04-21.

Further reading

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