Naval Station Puget Sound
former United States Naval station near Seattle, WA
Naval Station Puget Sound is a former United States Naval station located on Sand Point in Seattle, Washington. Today, the land is occupied by Magnuson Park.
History
The area around Sand Point and Pontiac Bay was donated to the Seattle city government in 1918 by Morgan J. Carkeek to form a new city park, which was named Carkeek Park. The 23-acre (9.3 ha) park was condemned by the federal government in 1926 for use as a naval air station; a $25,000 payment was used to establish new Carkeek Park on the west side of the city, north of Ballard on Puget Sound.
In 1922 the U.S. Navy began construction on the site, which it was leasing from the county, and in 1926 the Navy was deeded the 413-acre (1.67 km2) field outright. This deed amounted to a public gift of $500,000 from the county to the Navy (equivalent to $7.07 million in 2024 dollars) The Seattle Chamber of Commerce—a commercial entity—had done the same thing for the Army 28 years before with Fort Lawton, much of which is now Discovery Park.
Sand Point Airfield was the endpoint of the first aerial circumnavigation of the world in 1924. The historic flight helped convince Congress to develop Sand Point as a Naval Air Station.The former grass runways were paved in 1940–41, just prior to the U.S. entering World War II. The primary runway was aligned 14/32 and was just under a mile in length at 5050 feet (1539 m).
During its years of operation, Naval Station Puget Sound was used as a facility to train naval aviators. Several trainer aircraft were forced to ditch in Lake Washington over the years due to pilot error or aircraft malfunction.
The public source identifies “Naval Station Puget Sound” as former United States Naval station near Seattle, WA. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Naval, Station and Puget.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Naval Station Puget Sound”, the useful work is to connect “former United States Naval station near Seattle, WA” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6981944. VIAF identifies the subject as 131666383. The Library of Congress control number is no98069173. Authority coordinates are 47.682, -122.255. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1918, 1926, 1922 and 2024.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Naval Station Puget Sound”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Naval Station Puget Sound primary sources, Naval Station Puget Sound archive and Naval research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Naval Station Puget Sound”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Naval Station Puget Sound” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.