Woodinville
The city of Woondinville is located in northeastern King County. However, many local residents with a Woodinville address actually reside in unincorporated King (Cottage Lake) or Snohomish County (Maltby). The population of Woodinville, per the 2010 Census, is approximately 11,000 residents. In 1871, the Woodin family moved from the Seattle area, up the Sammamish River, to settle in the area that now bears their name. Their log cabin served as the first school and first post office in Woodinville, and Susan Woodin was the first postmaster.
Today, Woondinville is a charming mix of residential areas located in 7 distinct geographical neighborhoods, light industrial areas, the wineries and micro-breweries of the Tourist District, along with the retail-centric Town Center. Woodinville is a convenient home-base, with its easy access to highways and transportation, for anyone seeking to explore the Puget Sound region. Located between Seattle and Bellevue, the Woodinville community enjoys the advantages and convenience of being near several major metropolitan centers while maintaining the livability of all that is great about small town life.
Residents of Woodninville come by their love of everything green naturally, and are passionate about the city’s environment and its beautiful woodland landscape. Surrounded by the foothills of the Cascade Mountains and the rugged beauty of the Olympics and Mount Rainier, Woodinville is committed to preserving its natural beauty. The climate is ideal for those who enjoy spending time in the great outdoors. Woodinville enjoys vast amounts of open space, city parks, multi-purpose fields, playgrounds, walking, biking, hiking and running trails, a skateboard park, tennis and basketball courts open all year long. The surrounding area offers lakes, rolling hills and mountains for the outdoor enthusiast. No matter what your passion is, you won’t have to go far to enjoy hot air ballooning, equestrian trails, backpacking, canoeing, fishing, rock climbing and wildlife watching adventures.
Molbaks Nursery, the largest and most comprehensive nursery in the Greater Puget Sound Region, draws garden enthusiasts throughout the state of Washington. Two of the most highly rated restaurants in the Northwest – The Herbfarm and The Barking Frog—are conveniently located in Woodinville. 75+ wineries are located in, or near, Woodinville, including Chateau St. Michelle. The popular summer concert series at St. Michelle’s amphitheatre brings internationally renowned music acts to Woodinville.
An active calendar of small-town festivals, celebrations, and events occur throughout the year in Woodinville. Residents enjoy the Summer Concert Series at DeYoung Park and Cottage Creek Park. The Harvest Happening and The Great Pumpkin Hunt is a seasonal festival in late October . The Woodinville Lights Festival is a month-long celebration in December. In the spring, the family-friendly annual Basset Bash parade and All Fools’ Day celebration is enjoyed by young and old.
Woodinville Wine Country
With the establishment of the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in 1976, the Woodinville area wine industry began to take root! Wineries cropped up around the city over the years, and in 2002 an eclectic group of them formed the “Woodinville Wine Country,” which is a nonprofit organization. Their guiding vision of cresting fine, world-class wines from Washington grapes, along with a strong desire to enhance the community by educating the public and bringing tourism to the Woodinville area, drew these wineries together.
A majority of the grapes used by Woodinville wineries are grown in the warm, arid climate of the Columbia Valley, located in Eastern Washington. Washington’s wine growing region shares similar latitudes to the great wine regions of Northern Europe.
The Woodinvile wine industry attracts over a half million visitors annually. In addition to the celebrated wineries and tasting rooms, the wineries host, or are near, a variety of fun activities including a visit to the stunning Willows Lodge, hot air balloon rides, walking & biking trails, horseback riding, plus skating or running along the picturesque Sammamish River Trail.
The Woodinville Wine Country membership ranges from the lovely Chateau Ste. Michelle to small boutique wineries scattered around the valley and “Warehouse” District located in north Woodinville. Visitors are able to taste celebrated, awarded wines, some of which are only available directly at the wineries. Wines ranging from smoky syrahs to Bordeauux blends, crisp Rieslings to lovely chardonnays
The mission of the Woodinville Wine Country is to promote quality and excellence in Washington wine making, and to enhance consumer awareness of the quality and diversity of the wines made in Woodinville.
Kenmore
Kenmore was primarily dense forest for many years while Bothell and Woodinville were being built up, and was mostly owned by investors. One of these investors, Philo Remington (inventor of Remington guns) sold some of the investment property to Watson C. Squire (his son-in-law). Squire was the last territorial governor of Washington state and one of our states’ first United States Senators. He erected a water tower and the availability of water attracted water squatters.
Kenmore was named by John McMasters. He and his wife, Annie, were originally from the small town of Kenmore, Canada – 40 miles south of Ottawa. They arrived in Puget Sound in 1889 and leased land at Kenmore from Squire and named the area after his old home town. At first Kenmore was only the mill, its cookhouse, manager’s house, bunkhouse and a few worker shacks. The mill was just at the edge of Lake Washington, where logs were floated to the area to be made into shingles for roofs and the sides of houses.
Sportsmen enjoyed hunting in the area of the marsh at the mouth of the Sammamish and a boathouse and resort house accommodated the at Peterson’s Landing, near the present highway bridge. There was a houseboat hotel with a saloon and floats for mooring. In fact, there were duck clubs up the river, usually small cabins owned by small groups of well-to-do citizens from Kirkland. Because of the loggers, sportsmen and saloons, weekends were known to be rowdy and busy. There were places like the ‘Bucket of Blood’ which existed at the location of the present Tradewell Store, which existed as late as 1940. ‘The Blind Pig’ was only accessible to boats and got its name because during the Prohibition it was easy to dump evidence in the water in case of a raid.
After the end of the first World War, the Puget Mill Company offered small tracts of land. Homes were built north of the highway and between the main intersection and Swamp Creek. Progression of the Moorlands also started about the same time, especially after a bridge was built across the river about 1918. The Mitchell family built a store in 1919 at the Kenmore crossroads and the first service station went in the following year.
Kenmore had its own school district for many years and built its first school in 1914, then in 1916 consolidated with Bothell. The children were picked up in a milk truck, with benches put in every morning and again in the afternoon. It wasn’t until 1920 that the school obtained a real school bus.
During the second half of the 20th Century, the population of Kenmore grew quickly. On August, 31, 1998 it was incorporated, making it the newest city in King County.
Julie
