Matthews Beach Park is a 22-acre park in the Matthews Beach neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is a popular swimming beach in the summer, although it is also open during winter months.The park also hosts an annual "Polar Bear Plunge" sponsored by Seattle Parks and Recreation on New Year's Day.GeographyMatthews Beach Park is in a residential area on the shore of Ponitac Bay, on the west shore of Lake Washington. It is bordered on the west by the Burke-Gilman Trail and on the east by Matthews Beach, its namesake. The Matthews Beach, Seattle Neighborhood is also named for the same beach. Thornton Creek empties into Lake Washington at the southern end of the park.HistoryThe area has been Inhabited since the last glacial period. The people living around Lake Washington were collectively known as the hah-choo-AHBSH, "People of the Large Lake", as opposed to the doo-AHBSH, "People of the Inside", who lived around Elliott Bay, the Cedar River, and the Green River. Both groups were part of the Duwamish Tribe and spoke Lushootseed. The village of too-HOO-beed was of the too-oh-beh-DAHBSH extended family and was near what is now called Thornton Creek in what is now Matthews Beach, near Meadowbrook.
