Kenmore

History

The Sammamish River valley from Lake Washington to Issaquah Creek was historically inhabited by the indigenous Sammamish people (also known as the "s-tah-PAHBSH", or "willow people"), a Coast Salish group with an estimated population of 80 to 200 by 1850. Among them were the "ssts'p-abc" ("meander dwellers"), who settled near the river's mouth at two villages—the larger of which was "tlah-WAH-dees" between modern-day Kenmore and Bothell. The Sammamish were removed from their lands in 1856 following the Puget Sound War and moved to the Port Madison and Tulalip Indian reservations. Scotsman John McMasters and his wife Annie arrived in Puget Sound in May 1889 from Kenmore, Ontario, intending to establish themselves in the shingle-making trade. McMasters and his business partner, Chris Kruse, leased land from Squire and opened a shingle mill on the northeastern shore of Lake Washington on January 1, 1901. Establishing a company town alongside the mill for his employees, McMasters named it after his earlier hometown in Canada, which in turn was named after the village in Scotland, registering the name with the state on January 10. By 1903, Kenmore had established a school system and post office, with McMasters named the first postmaster for the latter. Despite cargo railway service passing through the area as early as 1887 via the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, most access to the city in its early days was by boat, with regular ferry service to Seattle, Bothell, and Woodinville starting in 1906. The city later gained a passenger railroad stop. The first improved road connection to Seattle and Bothell—the Red Brick Road—opened between 1913 and 1914, with bus service following the laying of the bricks. As a result, Kenmore became a country retreat for…

Geography

Kenmore has borders encompassing all of the north shore and a significant portion of the northeastern shore of Lake Washington. The local terrain is typical of the Puget Sound lowlands, consisting largely of rolling hills formed from glacial till, occasionally interrupted by flatlands typically found near substantial bodies of water. The largest river is the Sammamish, which connects Lake Sammamish to Lake Washington, and divides the city into northern and southern halves. Additionally, the northeastern corner of the city includes a narrow set of swamps and marshlands running north to south along Swamp Creek. The city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. The climate of Kenmore is substantially similar to that of nearby Seattle, being defined principally by its latitude, proximity to the Pacific Ocean and Puget Sound, and inclusion in the Puget Sound Convergence Zone. As such, it is usually considered Marine west coast in nature, with damp, cool winters, and mild, dry summers, despite being further north than cities such as Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. Kenmore has several distinct neighborhoods. These include: * Arrowhead, in southern Kenmore, on the west (or lake) side, saw its first house built in 1888. This was a small summer cabin; the oldest house still standing dates from 1929. * Inglewood, in southern Kenmore, was first platted in 1953, with large-scale suburban development appearing by 1962. * Lower Moorlands, in eastern Kenmore, saw its first house in 1904. The significant development occurring in this area after World War I included the 1927 landmark Charles and Elvera Thomsen House. * Upper Moorlands, also in eastern Kenmore, saw initial building in 1938-1939 but stayed quite rural due to the lack of a good water system until…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  173,745
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  132,858
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  132,851
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  127,901
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  116,508
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  106,901
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  98,445
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  89,033

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 2.82 — 2026-06-26
  1 km SSE of Easton, Washington
• M 2.87 — 2026-06-08
  2 km ESE of Oak Harbor, Washington