Frog Rock

SPRING ISSUE 2026

Stargazing Let the Sunshine In Golden Hour

yesterday, today, tomorrow

VERDANT & VIBRANT

now and then

ROCK

STAR Overdue Recognition for an Island Landmark Iconic landmarks

BY GEORGE

SOLTES often have their PHOTOS COURTESY roots in momentous BAINBRIDGE FROG ROCK events. The Gateway Arch in St. Louis commemorated the westward expansion of the United States.

The Space Needle heralded a futuristic age of high-tech wonders. And Bainbridge’s Frog Rock rectified a taunt from a rival high school.

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PNW BAINBRIDGE SPRING 2026

On June 7, 1971, at around 3:30 a.m., high school sweethearts and recent BHS graduates Ellen Barnes and Bob Green decided that they could no longer tolerate having “NK Lives” scrawled on a neighborhood rock. The graffiti had been inscribed in purple on a pair of stacked granite boulders at the junction of Phelps Road and North Madison Avenue by students from neighboring North Kitsap High School.

Armed with a quickly assembled assortment of paint, the couple went to work. By the time the sun came up, the formation formerly known as Split Rock had been transformed into a green frog with red, curlicue lips. Frog Rock was born.

Frog Rock has since gained a ladybug companion and has been touched up and accessorized in numerous ways, including being sensibly masked during the COVID pandemic. Having endured for more than five decades, it has become a symbol of the island’s unique personality.

This year, the humble frog will finally get its due, with the City of Bainbridge Island officially declaring the first week

of May as Frog Rock Week. Islander Denise Stoughton, who spearheaded the effort, has created a website dedicated to all things frog and will debut her documentary “The Story of Frog Rock” as part of Frog Rock Festival on May 3. For those wanting to take home a piece of the action, Bay Hay & Feed has launched a Frog Rock hoodie and Island Life Artisan Gifts will carry a variety of amphibious merch.

Meanwhile, what about Ellen and Bob, the teens who inadvertently started the whole thing? They, too, have endured and, after 47 years of marriage, look forward to being right in the middle of all the froggy festivities.

Learn more at bainbridgefrogrock.com