Covington

History

Covington was founded in 1900 at a Northern Pacific Railway stop and grew into a suburban bedroom community in the late 20th century. It was incorporated as a city on August 31, 1997. The area presently known as Covington was originally known as Jenkins Prairie. Between 1899 and 1900, the Northern Pacific Railway built the Palmer Cutoff between Auburn and Palmer to improve the company's primary east–west rail route across Stampede Pass. Richard Covington, a surveyor for the Northern Pacific, worked out of Fort Vancouver establishing the line from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Auburn. In 1900, during the building of the Palmer Cutoff, the Northern Pacific built several facilities in Covington. These included a 2,850-foot passing track, a 700-foot loading track, a second-class section house, a 24-man bunkhouse, a box tank, and a standpipe for watering steam locomotives. Dairies replaced lumber as the predominant industry in the Covington area by the 1920s; several irrigation canals were dug from local creeks to provide water during dry periods. Over the years, the area grew as an unincorporated area outside of Kent and was designated as a suburban development hub by the county government. Covington was officially incorporated as a city on August 31, 1997, and had approximately 12,200 residents at the time.

Geography

Covington is located in southern King County. The city is surrounded by Kent to the west, Auburn to the southwest, and Maple Valley to the east. Pipe Lake is located in Covington and adjacent Maple Valley. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and (1.84%) is water.

Race & ethnicity