Historic Kenmore, Washington

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 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. The mill employed 35 - 40 men and stood east of the present Premix plant on the flat land beside the river. The mill burned down in 1923 and John McMaster's died in 1930.

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 (Pope & Talbot) offered small tracts of land. Homes were built north of the highway and between the main intersection and Swamp Creek. 

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.  For more information on Kenmore, Washington visit their website at http://www.ci.kenmore.wa.us/.