About Us

Whaler’s Bay is a mid-sized city on the east side of Lake Washington, with an estimated population of 61,000 (2026). The city combines a compact, growing downtown with quiet residential neighborhoods, a working waterfront and an unusually large share of protected parkland for its size.

With good schools, a stable economy and a walkable waterfront, Whaler’s Bay is regularly ranked among the more livable small cities in Washington.

While offices and shops fill the blocks around City Hall, much of Whaler’s Bay keeps a small-town feel, with wooded neighborhoods and a network of trails connecting the uplands to the shoreline. The city maintains more than 40 parks; residents like to say you are never more than a ten-minute walk from one.

The city spans roughly nine square miles between the lake and the eastern uplands. People can swim at the Meydenbauer Bay beach in sight of downtown, launch a kayak from the hand-carry ramp, or follow Coal Creek through second-growth forest along the city’s southern edge.

The population is growing and becoming more diverse, and city services are available in eight languages through the translation program.

History

Long before European settlement, Coast Salish peoples lived, fished and harvested along the lake shore and the creek corridors for thousands of years. Where present-day Whaler’s Bay now stands was a densely wooded slope draining to a sheltered bay.

After coal was discovered in the southern hills in the 1860s, settlers began to log and mine the area. The village that grew up around the landing took its name from the sheltered anchorage that later made it famous: beginning in 1919, the American Pacific Whaling Company wintered its Alaska fleet in the bay, and for nearly three decades the sight of the moored vessels defined the town each winter.

The fleet ceased operations in 1946 and the moorage was converted to civic use. The last remaining structure from the winter operations, the Whaling Building, is being rehabilitated by the Parks Department as a waterfront community space.

Whaler’s Bay incorporated in 1953, the same year the city adopted its seal. In the decades since, the city has grown from a ferry-stop village into a small city with a distinct downtown, while its shoreline, creek corridors and park system have remained the center of civic identity.

Reasonable Accommodation

For alternate formats, interpreters, or reasonable modification requests please phone at least 48 hours in advance 425-555-0100 (voice) or email info@whalersbay.gov. For complaints regarding modifications, contact the City of Whaler’s Bay ADA, Title VI, and Equal Opportunity Officer at ada@whalersbay.gov.

Last updated: June 24, 2026