Amenities

Boat launch, amenities (paid) possible shore launch

History

In the early 1840s, what is now Bayview was made up of just a few fur trappers’ cabins and some tents. The trappers were predominantly Frenchman from New France (now Canada), and would trap for the Hudson Bay Company, the American Fur Company, or the North West Company, all of which had trading posts established in the area. A handful of Jesuit missionaries had also settled in the area with an eye to evangelize the local tribes.

When trapping was not practical in the winter months, the trappers would winter in Bayview, where they hunted game and traded with local tribes to survive. Traveling in or out was strictly by foot or horseback.

On July 2, 1864, the Northern Pacific Railroad Company was chartered for a Westward extension from the Great Lakes to Puget Sound near what is now Seattle, and coupled with expanded mining and logging, the area was flooded with workers. Over the next few decades, this bay developed into a summer resort spot. Hotels and cottages were built, and in 1894, the settlement became known as the town of Bayview.

In 1910, a group of Spokane businessmen promoted Bayview as a tourist destination, and D.C. Corbin extended his Spokane International Railroad to Bayview in 1911. This allowed locally-mined crushed limestone to be transported directly to Spokane. Bayview was the site of limestone processing until the 1930s. In 1936, the railroad spur to Bayview was abandoned.