Brier

History

Brier is located in the traditional territory of several Coast Salish peoples, including the Sammamish, Snohomish, and Suquamish. The area around modern-day Swamp Creek was known as dxʷɬ(ə)q̓ ab, meaning "other side of something" and "a wide place", in the Lushootseed language. The first European-descendant settlers in the Brier area, the Salty family, arrived from Finland in 1883 and constructed a cabin to establish a Homestead Act claim. They were followed by loggers who cleared land that had already been sold to the founders of the Puget Mill Company. The first area school was built on land donated by the Salty family in September 1896 and later replaced with the Cedar Valley School in 1911. The Brier area was known for its mink farms and later gave way to suburban ranch houses in the 1950s and 1960s. Brier was officially incorporated as a city on February 11, 1965, after an emergency vote following a proposal from a developer to annex the area into neighboring Mountlake Terrace. Boeing engineer Richard Balser was elected as the city's first mayor and the first city hall was in the home of a local resident who rented a room to the city government for $50 per month. Brier gained approximately 1,000 residents within ten years and opened its permanent city hall and public library in 1974; a city park opened in 1976 as part of the national bicentennial celebrations. The area was gradually developed into a more suburban community, growing to over 6,000 people by 1999. A new city hall opened in April 2005, replacing a leased office.

Geography

Brier is located north of Seattle in southern Snohomish County, bordered to the south by Lake Forest Park in King County. The cities of Mountlake Terrace and Bothell lie to the west and east, respectively. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land. The city has large lot sizes for residential homes, at a minimum of and is exclusively zoned for single-family homes.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  159,629
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  122,914
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  121,927
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  119,545
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  110,109
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  99,494
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  93,756
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  83,011

Largest nearby schools

• Kamiak High School
  High · Mukilteo · 2,250 students · 24.2:1 ratio
• Henry M. Jackson High School
  High · Mill Creek · 2,155 students · 23.4:1 ratio
• Mariner High School
  High · Everett · 2,090 students · 19.9:1 ratio
• Cascade High School
  High · Everett · 1,793 students · 21.6:1 ratio
• North Creek High School
  High · Bothell · 1,781 students · 20.7:1 ratio
• Glacier Peak High School
  High · Snohomish · 1,630 students · 24.7:1 ratio
• Edmonds Woodway High School
  High · EDMONDS · 1,547 students · 22.1:1 ratio
• Meadowdale High School
  High · LYNNWOOD · 1,512 students · 21.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.56 — 2026-09-12
  2 km E of Mount Vernon, Washington
• M 2.51 — 2026-08-09
  11 km SSW of River Road, Washington
• M 3.8 — 2026-07-02
  2 km E of Oak Harbor, Washington
• M 2.5 — 2026-06-26
  11 km E of Carnation, Washington
• M 2.87 — 2026-06-08
  2 km ESE of Oak Harbor, Washington
• M 2.84 — 2026-05-27
  4 km W of Wauna, Washington