Bainbridge Island City Map Poster

About Bainbridge Island

The first European to see the island was Spanish explorer Jacinto Caamaño in 1791. He named it Isla de Zepeda, but he and his crew were killed by natives before they could get ashore. In 1841, Captain George Pickett and a crew of men aboard the "Fanny" became the first Europeans known to settle on Bainbridge Island when they camped overnight at Blakely Harbor (now called Pickett's Harbor). The next day, August 22, 1841; members of his party claimed discovery for Great Britain by taking possession of the island in Her Majesty's name. They also took possession for His Britannic Majesty King William IV as well as for President Martin Van Buren and Governor Isaac Stevens of Washington Territory.