History

Settlement & Growth of 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 community of Woodinville did not develop until the Seattle-Lake Shore and 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 Packing 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 (Northeast 175th Street/133rd Avenue Northeast). 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.

Woodinville Heritage Society

The Woodinville Heritage Society was established in 1975 to acquire, preserve and perpetuate the artifacts and history of the greater Woodinville area as well as educate and distribute historical information to the community and to those interested in our history.

For more information, visit the Woodinville Heritage Society website or write to:
Woodinville Heritage Society
P.O. Box 216
Woodinville, Washington 98072.

Content and photos provided by Woodinville Heritage Society (2007).