Editing Asa Mercer (section)

{{short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name = 
| image = Asa Shinn Mercer.jpg
| caption = 
| order = 1st
| office = President of the Territorial University of Washington
| term_start = 1861
| term_end = 1863
| birth_name = Asa Shinn Mercer
| birth_date = {{birth date|1839|6|6}}
| birth_place = [[Princeton, Illinois|Princeton]], [[Illinois]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1917|8|10|1839|6|6}}
| death_place = [[Buffalo, Wyoming|Buffalo]], [[Wyoming]]
| alma_mater = [[Franklin College (New Athens, Ohio)|Franklin College]]
| predecessor = ''Position established''
| successor = William Edward Barnard
| order2 = 
| office2 = 
| term_start2 = 
| term_end2 = 
}}

'''Asa Shinn Mercer''' (June 6, 1839 – August 10, 1917) was the first president of the [[University of Washington|Territorial University of Washington]] and a member of the [[Washington State Legislature|Washington State Senate]].

He is remembered primarily for his role in three milestones of the old American West: the founding of the [[University of Washington]], the [[Mercer Girls]], and the [[Johnson County War]]. [[Mercer Island]] in [[Lake Washington]] and Mercer Street in [[Seattle]] are named not for Asa, but rather his brother [[Thomas Mercer|Thomas]].<ref name=ammons>{{Cite news | last = Warren | first = James | title = Seattle at 150: Mercer brothers imprinted family name on the city | newspaper=[[The Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |date = October 9, 2001 | url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/42017_mercer09.shtml }}</ref>

Seattle Public Schools operates Asa Mercer International Middle School in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood.