Mukilteo Lighthouse Park, Mukilteo

Located at Point Elliott* near Downtown Mukilteo is Mukilteo Lighthouse Park. Also referred to as Lighthouse Park, the park’s three main features are the Mukilteo Light Station, the adjacent beach, and a boat launch ramp.

(*Multiple sources use “Point Elliott” and/or “Elliott Point” as the location name. This article uses “Point Elliott” for consistency.)

First named Rose Point after British Captain George Vancouver anchored at the location in 1792 and noticed the roses which grew in the area, the location was renamed to Point Elliott in honor of midshipman Samuel Elliott in 1841. It was also the location of the Point Elliott Treaty signing in 1855 between local Native American tribes and recent settlers. The light station opened in 1906, and ownership was transferred from the U.S. Government to the city of Mukilteo in 2001.

The park was built on tideflats surrounding the lighthouse in the 1950s, and opened as Mukilteo State Park. The park was later renamed to Mukilteo Lighthouse Park after the Washington State Government transferred ownership of the park to Mukilteo in 2003. The park was redeveloped beginning in the mid-2000s, with the last portions completed in 2011.

The light station complex contains multiple structures, including the lighthouse, former housing quarters on opposite sides of the lighthouse, auxiliary buildings, and a foghorn.

In front of the lighthouse is a cube-type sculpture by local Native American artists James Madison and Joe Gobin.

Around the light station complex are numerous sculptured concrete plant containers, as well as etchings of fish on the traffic circle pavement in front of the lighthouse.

Surrounding the traffic circle are bollards, with some having solar-powered night lights. I’m assuming the lights are connected to the power grid, as I’m skeptical that they would emit enough light on their own given the small size of the photovoltaic cells.

The structure on the right contains the toilets, and the structure on the left is apparently an amphitheater of some sort.

There are also these Big Belly Solar Compactor garbage cans, which have photovoltaic cells much larger than the ones on the bollards.

Behind the lighthouse is the northern section of the beach, which was much less crowded than the other park areas when I took photos.

Separating the two sections of beach is the boat launch ramp, which first opened with the park and has been improved since then.

The southern section of the beach extends to the southern end of the park and beyond, based on the tides. Also in this section of the park are a playground, a beach volleyball court, shelters, and fire pits.