05/27/2026
✨Trivia Answer: John Fay✨
John P. Fay, a lawyer from a prominent East Coast family, was among the early figures who helped shape Seattle’s growth in its formative years. He arrived in Seattle with his wife, Alice Ober Fay, just before the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 and quickly built a thriving legal practice centered on fire-related claims and rebuilding efforts. His work soon expanded into real estate, corporate law, railroads, shipping, and mining, and he became regarded as one of Washington’s most successful attorneys and investors.
A gifted and persuasive speaker, he earned the nickname the “silver-tongued silver Republican.” Beyond his law practice, Fay played an active civic role. In 1897 he was appointed to the University of Washington Board of Regents and later became its President. A strong believer in “sound mind in sound body,” he helped bring athletics to the university and was responsible for helping build its first gymnasium. He retired from law in 1915 to focus on business interests and donated his extensive law library to the University of Washington.
Fay amassed considerable wealth through real estate, mining, and shipping investments, but the 1929 stock market crash sharply reduced his fortune. Although he still held significant property, including land on Bainbridge Island, it became increasingly difficult to maintain, leading him to sell portions of his holdings while retaining a small family parcel.
He died unexpectedly in 1930 and for years afterward, his family continued to use the Bainbridge property, including their summer home “Faybrooke,” named after the family’s ancestral estate in England. It remained a cherished gathering place for generations.
With the help of State Senator Gertrude Johnson, the remaining acreage was sold to the State of Washington in 1944 for $5,000, on the condition that the park retain the Fay name in his honor. That land became Fay Bainbridge State Park, preserving both its shoreline and a piece of Washington’s early history.
Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce
