得梅因海滩公园：历史

早在第一艘欧洲船只驶入普吉特湾之前，如今这座公园周边的海岸线便是穆克尔舒特族和杜瓦米什族祖先的重要聚集地。他们从附近河谷的村落出发，前往得梅因溪沿岸的季节性营地——每年鲑鱼都会回到这里产卵。他们用木桩和编织的草席搭建庇护所，在溪流中捕鱼，并在海滩上挖取蛤蜊。 考古学家在溪流附近发现了堆积如山的古代贝壳废弃物，这证明无数代人曾在此采集食物并精心呵护这片土地。考古和物理证据表明，普吉特湾地区的首批居民早在13,000多年前就已抵达此地。

如今，游客仍能一睹那些 长期以 这片海岸线为家的野生动物的身影 。 请留意近海处浮沉的海豹、在浅滩上踱步的大蓝鹭、头顶翱翔的白头海雕，如果您在秋季来访，还能看到鲑鱼逆流而上，沿 得梅因溪（Des Moines Creek）进行着令人惊叹的洄游产卵之旅 。当您凝视潮水涌来时，不难想象在道路、码头和居民区改变这片景观之前，这片海岸线曾是何等模样。

你是否曾好奇过普吉特海湾的名字是怎么来的？

1792年，英国海军军官乔治·温哥华上尉抵达太平洋西北地区，旨在解决与西班牙的领土争端，并继续英国对该地区的探索。他乘坐“发现号”（HMS Discovery）驶入如今普吉特海峡附近的水域，随后派遣副中尉彼得·普吉特向南深入探索，而他本人则继续前行。

当温哥华途经如今得梅因市所在的位置时，他注意到岸边升起了袅袅炊烟。当地原住民正在有意焚烧灌木丛，以此驱赶鹿群以便狩猎，这在当时是一种常见的土地管理做法。在此次探险途中，温哥华将该水道南段命名为“普吉特海峡”，以纪念他的副官。后来，制图师们将这一名称扩展至涵盖整个水域，即我们今天所知的普吉特海峡。

如今，许多人使用“萨利什海”这一名称来指代那片延伸至美加边境的水域，其中包括普吉特湾、乔治亚海峡、胡安·德·富卡海峡以及圣胡安群岛。 这一名称旨在向最早定居该地区的沿海萨利什人致敬，于1989年被提出，以体现整个跨境生态系统的整体性。华盛顿州和不列颠哥伦比亚省于2009年正式认可了这一名称。

先驱者在此定居

By the late 1800s, Washington had become one of the nation's great logging regions, and communities were beginning to spring up along the shores of Puget Sound. In 1889, a group of settlers and investors from Des Moines, Iowa, founded the town of Des Moines, naming it after the Midwestern city they had left behind.

The towering Douglas firs and cedars that blanketed the surrounding hills fueled a booming timber industry, and the Des Moines Creek valley became part of that story. French Canadian loggers hauled massive logs through the forest with teams of oxen, while sawmills sprang up near the creek's mouth to process timber for the growing cities of the Pacific Northwest. Before trucks hauled timber, enormous tree trunks traveled downhill through wooden flumes—long troughs filled with rushing water—and steep logging chutes on their way to waterfront mills.

Meanwhile, steamships from the famous Mosquito Fleet carried lumber, passengers, mail, and supplies between waterfront communities, making Puget Sound the region's transportation network long before highways existed. In 1909, a new dock was built at the end of S. 227th Street, near the site of today's Anthony's HomePort, further cementing Des Moines' connection to the water.

Dance Hall Days and a Historic Ferry

In 1916, the enterprising Neal brothers, a local family that had already established the local telephone company and operated a bus line connecting Des Moines with Seattle, converted an unfinished lumber mill into a waterfront dance hall. That same year, the King County Ferry System began running an automobile ferry between Des Moines and Vashon Island. The first of its kind in the region, it could carry 40 cars and 200 passengers. Among other benefits, it helped the island's farmers transport produce and goods to canneries inland.

Throughout the 1920s, visitors traveled from around the region to enjoy evenings of dancing, dining, and beachfront recreation in Neal's Pavilion, perched over Puget Sound. It marked the beginning of the property's transformation from a working waterfront into a destination where people came to relax and cut loose.

孤儿们的户外乐园

Not every chapter in the park's history was shaped by industry. One of its most enduring stories began with a couple whose mission was to give vulnerable children a safe, joyful place to grow up.

Herman and Annie Draper, known affectionately as "Daddy" and "Mother" Draper, opened the Children's Industrial Home in Des Moines in 1908. Their orphanage welcomed children from all backgrounds and was believed to be the only self-supporting children's home in the country, relying on the children's work and talents rather than government or church funding. The children attended public school and trained in trades such as printing, contributing to a press they produced and sold. Draper's main focus, however, was music. The children honed their musical skills and toured the country as "The Jolly Entertainers," performing concerts that raised money to support the orphanage while exposing them to places and experiences they might never otherwise have seen.

Around 1917, the Drapers purchased the wooded land along Des Moines Creek to create a campground and playground for the children in their care. They filled in an old mill pond and added swings, tent platforms, and a picnic shelter, creating a peaceful retreat where children could spend their days. The grounds were later opened for community picnics and gatherings. After Herman and Annie Draper passed away in 1927—just five days apart—the Children's Home closed, but the property soon began another chapter.

一个教会社区打造了一个经久不衰的聚会场所

In 1931, the North Pacific Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church purchased both Draper Park and Neal's Pavilion, creating Covenant Beach Camp. For decades, families, youth groups, and church congregations from across the Pacific Northwest gathered here for summer camps, retreats, worship services, and community events. Many of the historic buildings that define Des Moines Beach Park today were constructed during this era. Most of the church members were Swedish immigrants or their descendants, and the buildings they built were heavily influenced by Scandinavian craftsmanship traditions. The Dining Hall, completed in 1935, was designed by Marvel Johnson, then just 20 years old and one of the earliest women to graduate from the University of Washington's architecture program. Connected to it is the charming Kaffe Stuga, whose Swedish-inspired details remain a distinctive feature of the park.

Meanwhile, Neal's Pavilion found yet another purpose as the camp's tabernacle, accommodating up to 1,000 worshippers during busy summer weekends. After the beloved waterfront structure was destroyed by fire in 1954, a new auditorium was built farther inland in 1957. Today, Beach Park Event Center continues to host weddings, concerts, art exhibits, and community events, carrying on the park's long tradition as a gathering place.

1986年，得梅因市购入了这片占地20英亩的地产及其630英尺长的普吉特海湾海岸线，确保该地能作为公共公园留给子孙后代。市政府没有拆除这些历史悠久的营地建筑，而是选择将其保留下来。正是这一承诺，使得该地产于2006年被列入《国家历史名胜名录》，以此认可其在该地区历史上的独特地位。

如今，游客仍可漫步于众多原始木屋、餐厅以及经过精美修复的礼堂之间，这些建筑以高耸的常绿树木为背景，距离海滩仅几步之遥。无论您是享受野餐、参加婚礼或音乐会、探索潮汐池，还是观赏普吉特海湾的日落，您都在体验一个几代以来始终将人们凝聚在一起的地方。