Who is Bainbridge Island named after?

    About Bainbridge Island

    Commodore William Bainbridge, a U.S. Navy officer in the War of 1812, best known for commanding USS Constitution.

    The island had other names in Suquamish and in early American use. The current city name is the commodore’s. It is not named after a Seattle neighborhood, and it is not Bainbridge, Georgia.

    The story of how the name landed — Wilkes in 1841, the peninsula mix-up, Agate Pass — is in How Did Bainbridge Island Get Its Name?

    Local history with a door you can walk through: Bainbridge History Museum up Ericksen, a walk-on from the ferry. Deeper exclusion history: Japanese American Exclusion Memorial.

    What to do with an afternoon rather than an encyclopedia: visitor guide.

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