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Basic Facts About Woodinville
City Stats
• City Population: 10,390 (As of 4/1/2007)
• Incorporation date: March 31, 1993
• Latitude: 47 degrees 45 minutes
• Longitude: 122 degrees 09 minutes
Land & Roadways
• City geographical area: 5.65 square miles
• Park acreage: 100.84 acres
• State highway in city limits: State Route 202
Annual Events
• Cityhood Celebration as part of Celebrate Woodinville (March/April)
• Chipping Event (April/May)
• Earth Day Volunteer Event (April)
• Family Fitness Event (June)
• Summer Concert Series (July/August)
• Sammamish ReLeaf (September/October)
• Harvest Festival (October)
• Spring & Fall Recycling Events
• Light Festival (December)
Largest Employers in the City (2007–2008 Budget)
• W.A. Botting Company: 289
• Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd: 252
• Molbak’s Nursery & Greenhouse: 249
• Loud Technologies: 238
• Target: 200
Historic Woodinville
The Woodins were the first family to settle in the Woodinville community when they homesteaded 160 acres along the banks of the Squak Slough. Later renamed the Sammamish River, the slough served as the highway for the early pioneers since there were no roads. During the early years, lumber mills and logging were the main employers. Woodinville’s mills included the Machias and Saginaw Sawmilles and the Woodinville Shingle Mill.
The commununity of Woodinville did not develop until the Seattle-Lake Shore & Eastern Railway arrived in 1888. The early business district evolved around the railroad depot located where the railroad split at Woodinville. For the first time, stores, saloons, roads and bridges were built.
As the land was cleared and the valley flooding tamed with the lowering of Lake Washington in 1916, produce and dairy farming extended across the Sammamish Valley. Much of the produce was processed at the DeYoung Produce Packeing Shed and shipped by railroad to the East Coast as well as to Seattle. This later became the Lowell DeYoung Feed Mill, which continued to operate until the 1980s. Early dairy farms included Jess Brown’s Millview Dairy and Fred Stimson’s Hollywood Farms which is the current site of Chateau St. Michelle Winery.
Woodinville’s first post office, school and Sunday School were held in the home of Susan and Ira Woodin. As Woodinville grew, the Calkins family donated land for a one-room school which was built in 1892. Today, the land is the current site of the Carol Edwards Center/Old Woodinville School (NE 175th Street/133rd Avene NE). This building was replaced by a two-room schoolhouse in 1906 which burned from a chimney fire two years later.
In 1909, the first brick school east of Lake Washington was built on the site. It was enlarged by the Work Project Administration in 1935 and expanded to its current size in 1948. In the 1960s, the school ceased to be a regular elementary and was called the Woodinville Annex to house an overflow of students. From 1993 to 2001, the building served as Woodinville City Hall.
Historical Timeline
| 1800’s | The area along Squak Slough (today known as the Sammamish River) was inhabited by the Simump Tribe. The word “Squak” was a term used by local Native Americans which meant swampy area. |
| 1862 | National Homestead Act signed by Abraham Lincoln. This act stimulated homesteading of 160 acres per family for more than just timber claims. |
| Sept 1871 | Ira and Susan Woodin homesteaded 160 acres along Squak Slough and became the first permanent white settlers in the region. |
| 1874 | Emanuel Neilsen and Gustav Jacobsen, who were brothers that immigrated from Norway to America in 1870, each homesteaded 160 acres south of the Woodin’s homestead. |
| ca.1874 | Mary B. Neilsen, age 16, married Eric Jaderholm, age 49, and jointly homesteaded 160 acres next to her father’s homestead and just south of the Woodins. This became the early business district. |
| 1876 | The first steamboat to be put into use on Squak Slough (later renamed Sammamish River) was the Mud Hen. The side wheeler made only one trip up the meandering slough because her wheels became entangled in the reeds and grasses. It is believed the Mud Hen remained on Squak Lake and provided freight and passenger service there. |
| 1877 | The Calkins came from Kansas and homesteaded 160 acres in the valley floor east of the Neilsen’s homestead. |
| 1885 | The “Little” White Methodist Church was built at the corner of 131st Ave NE and NE 175th Street. |
| 1885 | The Seattle-Lake Shore & Eastern Railway was formed because the Northern Pacific Railway initially terminated its line in Tacoma rather than in Seattle. |
| 1887 | The Seattle-Lake Shore & Eastern Railway reached Woodinville. |
| 1888 | Woodin-Sanders Store was built on pilings next to the railroad platform and operated until 1898. |
| 1889 | On April 4, 1889 the Woodins deeded one acre for a cemetery in Woodinville. Two small girls, Regine Hammer and her sister, died of diphtheria and were the first recorded burials here in 1888. |
| 1889 | Anderson-Kennedy Rainier Saloon was built on pilings near the railroad platform and owned by the Seattle Brewing and Malt Company. The saloon ceased operating as a saloon on August 15, 1912 when the County Commissioners did not renew their license based on the strength of a Citizen Petition. |
| 1889 | American House was built by Joe Redberg and operated as a saloon and hotel. It burned down in the mid 1890’s. |
| 1889 | The Stringtown Bridge over Squak Slough connected Woodinville and Bothell. The bridge was built by Emanuel Neilsen using an ox powered pile driver he designed. |
| 1889 | Washington granted statehood. Woodinville citizen Mary B. Neilsen Jaderholm was the first person granted citizenship in the State of Washington. |
| 1890 | Town of Woodinville was platted by Mary B. Neilsen Jaderholm which was not incorporated until 1993 – more than 100 years later. |
| 1890 | (Teegarden’s) Mercantile Store was built and initially operated by Milt Russell. The store was sold to Clara and Sara Jacobsen who sold groceries, fabric, feed, etc. It also included a blacksmith shop operated by Harry Teegarden who married Clara in 1914. |
| 1892 | First “permanent” schoolhouse in Woodinville had just one-room and was located at the intersection of 131st Ave NE and NE 175th Street on land donated by the Calkins. Four schools were built on this site between 1892 and 1934. |
| 1892 | The Grace School was built. The school ceased operation in 1928 due to the lack of students. |
| ca.1893 | A permanent railroad depot was built at Woodinville. |
| 1894 | The Forester’s Lodge was built on land donated by Andrew Hansen. The upper floor was used for community activities and served as a local court room when required. The first floor housed the Ruelle’s Brothers Company also known as the Woodinville Trading Company. It eventually disbanded as the need was no longer there for an organization to help widows & children of deceased loggers. |
| 1895 | Emanuel Neilsen’s General Merchandise Store opened on Front Street (became the site of the Woodinville Mercantile Company in 1927). |
| 1895 | The Paradise Lake Cemetery was established. |
| Late 1890’s | A one-room wood frame schoolhouse was built at Derby. |
| 1897 | Klondike Gold Rush begins – several prominent Woodinville residents ventured north. These included Ira & Frank Woodin and several Calkins. |
| 1898 | Snoqualmie Falls underground hydroelectric power plant #1 was constructed. It was the first major hydroelectric plant in Washington. |
| ca.1900 | The Cottage Lake School was built in the center of a logging community. |
| 1903 | Machias Sawmill was built on Squak Slough by Charley Niemeyer and Colonel Miller. Later the Machias Sawmill was obtained by Jesse Brown and operated as a shingle mill until 1926. |
| 1904 | “The Belt Line” of the Northern Pacific Railway from Black River Jct (Renton) to Woodinville was completed. |
| 1906 | The Woodinville Lumber Company located in Grace was established by Jesse Brown. |
| 1907 | Dodd’s Adjustable School Desk Factory was built. Mr. Dodd, a school teacher and principal, started the factory but soon went bankrupt. The factory was sold at auction on May 15, 1909 to the Ruelle Brothers. |
| 1908 | The two-room Woodin School burned. For ~2 years, the empty Dodd Adjustable School Desk Factory was used as a school. The school was replaced by the first brick schoolhouse on the eastside of Lake Washington. |
| 1908 | On August 18 at 5:00 PM, a passenger locomotive train that was running about two hours late crashed head-on into a freight locomotive at Woodinville. |
| 1908 | The Superior Brick, Tile & Pottery Company was built by George Shaw and operated until ~1930. |
| 1909 | Seattle hosts the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition which opened on June 1st. |
| 1909-10 | Electrical power and telephone systems arrived in Woodinville. |
| 1910 | Hollywood (dairy) Farm was built by the wealthy Seattle lumberman Frederick S. Stimson. Mrs. Stimson had several large greenhouses and sold flowers all over the world. Today this is the site of Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery |
| 1912 | The Derby School built of wood was replaced by a brick schoolhouse paid for by Mr. Stimson and renamed Hollywood School. It operated for only two years and closed for lack of students. |
| 1912 | Squak Slough was straightened and dredged between Redmond and NE 145th Street at a cost of $60,000 paid for by the valley farmers. The valley still flooded at times. |
| 1913 | Hollywood Poultry Farm was founded by Mr. Mort Atkinson on 40 acres of timber land owned by Fred Stimson. By 1930, he was brooding about 30,000 chicks per year that were shipped worldwide. |
| 1916 | Lake Washington was lowered nine feet to install the Ballard Locks. This made Squak Slough very difficult to navigate. |
| 1916 | The first Boeing built airplane, the B&W, made its maiden flight from Lake Union on June 15th. |
| 1917 | Lake Washington Ship Canal opens on July 4th. |
| 1929 | The road between Woodinville and Cottage Lake was paved and electrical power was finally extended to Cottage Lake. |
| 1940 | Lake Washington Floating Bridge is dedicated on July 2nd. |
| 1944 | The Lowell DeYoung Feed Mill Company was established. |
| 1947 | The Summit Fire District located next to Lake Leota was established. Fred Luzzani remodeled his barn to accommodate a fire truck which was purchased from King County at public auction June 2, 1947 for $500. |
| 1953 | Saginaw Sawmill was built on the Sammamish River at Woodinville. |
| 1963-64 | Sammamish River (formerly Squak Slough) flood control project was completed. The river was straightened, widened and deepened to protect adjacent farm lands from spring flooding. |
| 1974 | First stoplight was installed in Woodinville. |
| 1978 | First All Fool’s Day Parade held in Woodinville. |
| 1980 | At 8:32am on Sunday May 18th, 1980, Mount St Helens erupts and sends a cloud of ash nearly 40,000 feet into the air. More than 200 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing. |
| 1993 | City of Woodinville was incorporated March 31, 1993. (103 years after the Town of Woodinville was initially platted by Mary B. Neilsen Jaderholm in 1890.) |
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If you like this site,
My first experience with Woodinville was to attend the Annual Fool’s Day parade, otherwise known as the Basset Bash, with my friend Gail. We had a great time looking at all of the crazily dressed people walking all of their basset hounds through the streets. I was also able to pick up a wooden ferry boat for my aunt and uncle as well as a little curio shelf that I use to this day.
Here is what the Spirit of Washington looks like as it travels toward Woodinville to the Columbia Winery.
And here is a beautiful sunset in Woodinville:
And here is Woodinville after the last storm:
I lived in Woodinville from 1952 until 1967. I lived on Lake Leota for a while, then moved to a place near Mack’s Corner on the Woodinville-Duvall highway. I remember eating very good hamburgers and milk shakes at Hinman’s store next to the, then, Summit Fire Station. But when I read a history of Woodinville it says that the store was owned by Fred Luzzani! How and when did it become Hinman’s?
Thank you.