How Woodinville Became Woodinville

Long before Woodinville had a name, the Sammamish people and other Coast Salish communities lived, traveled, fished, hunted, and gathered throughout the Sammamish River and Lake Sammamish watershed.

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, allowing eligible settlers to claim 160 acres of federal land by living on and improving it.

Ira and Susan Woodin established a 160-acre homestead beside Squak Slough, now the Sammamish River. Their home became a stopping place for travelers and served as the community’s first school, Sunday school, and gathering place.

Norwegian immigrants Emanuel Neilsen and Gustav Jacobsen each established 160-acre homesteads south of the Woodins. The Calkins family soon settled to the east, helping turn a single homestead into a growing community.

A post office was established on July 27, 1881, with Susan Woodin serving as postmaster. The settlement growing around the Woodin family now had an official name: Woodinville.

Mildred Goodale and two of her children were laid to rest on the southeast corner of the Woodins’ homestead. The small family burial ground later grew into Woodinville Cemetery.

The Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway reached Woodinville and transformed the riverside settlement. Around the depot and rail junction came stores, saloons, roads, bridges, mills, and new ways to move people and products.

The Stringtown Bridge created a vital crossing over Squak Slough, linking Woodinville with Bothell’s Stringtown area. Built by Emanuel Neilsen with an ox-powered pile driver of his own design, it opened the way for commerce, settlement, and growth along what became NE 175th Street.

Washington entered the Union as the 42nd state on November 11, 1889. Woodinville was beginning to look like a town, though it would remain unincorporated for more than a century.

Mary B. Hansen, widow of Eric D. Jaderholm, recorded the original plat of the Town of Woodinville. Streets, blocks, and lots were formally laid out 103 years before incorporation.

The Calkins family donated land near today’s NE 175th Street and 133rd Avenue NE for a one-room schoolhouse. The site remained central to Woodinville’s educational and civic life for generations.

Ira and Susan Woodin deeded one acre for a community cemetery, formally establishing Woodinville Memorial Mead, now known as Woodinville Cemetery. Frank Woodin later added another acre, creating the two-acre cemetery preserved today.

Sawmills and lumber businesses used the surrounding forests, railroad access, and river corridor. Operations such as the Machias Sawmill and Woodinville Lumber Company provided jobs and helped define Woodinville as a working timber town.

The Northern Pacific Railway completed its Belt Line between Renton and Woodinville, strengthening the town’s role as a rail junction and making it easier to ship lumber, farm products, supplies, and passengers.

On September 9, 1909, the two-room Woodinville School burned. Classes moved temporarily into the Dodd Adjustable School Desk factory while the first brick schoolhouse on the east side of Lake Washington was built in just five months.

Electricity and telephone service reached Woodinville.

Seattle lumberman Frederick Stimson and his wife, Nellie, established Hollywood Farm in the Sammamish Valley. Known for dairy, gardens, greenhouses, flowers, poultry, and agricultural innovation, the property later became home to Chateau Ste. Michelle. In 1913, Mort Atkinson established Hollywood Poultry Farm on Stimson land; by 1930, it brooded about 30,000 chicks a year and shipped them worldwide.

Valley farmers paid $60,000 to straighten and dredge Squak Slough between Redmond and NE 145th Street. The work improved drainage and farmland, but flooding continued and the natural winding waterway began to change.

Frederick Stimson funded a new brick schoolhouse near Hollywood Farm. The building later became one of Woodinville’s best-known historic gathering places and was designated a landmark in 1992.

As part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Locks project, Lake Washington was lowered by about nine feet, lowering Squak Slough as well. Navigation became harder, while improved drainage opened more of the valley to farming.

John and Ellen DeYoung built their ten-room Dutch Colonial home near NE 175th Street. Constructed by local craftspeople using local materials, it originally stood on the site of today’s Chase Bank.

A Works Progress Administration project enlarged and transformed the Woodinville School. The building later served as a school annex, Woodinville’s first City Hall, and the centerpiece of the Schoolhouse District.

The Lowell DeYoung Feed Mill grew from Woodinville’s agricultural economy, supplying farmers and continuing the family’s role in local business. The operation remained part of the community into the 1980s.

Danish immigrants Egon and Laina Molbak opened a small nursery in rural Woodinville. Over time, Molbak’s became a regional garden destination known for plants, greenhouses, displays, a café, the poinsettia tree, and the feeling that a visit was an experience.

A major U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood-control project widened, deepened, and further straightened the Sammamish River. It protected farmland from spring flooding, but also reduced the river’s connection to its historic floodplain and diminished wetland and wildlife habitat.

More than 50,000 music fans gathered at Gold Creek Park for the three-day Seattle Pop Festival. The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Chuck Berry, Santana, Ike and Tina Turner, The Byrds, and others made Woodinville the unlikely setting for a major Northwest music festival just weeks before Woodstock.

Rather than lose the DeYoung House to redevelopment, Harlin Peterson moved it from NE 175th Street to its current site. That move made its preservation, and its future as a museum, possible.

Woodinville’s first traffic signal arrived, a small but unmistakable sign that the rural crossroads was becoming busier and more suburban.

The Woodinville Heritage Society was established to collect, preserve, and share local history. Its creation reflected growing concern that the community’s buildings, artifacts, photographs, and memories could disappear without organized preservation.

Ste. Michelle acquired the historic Hollywood Farm property and opened its Woodinville winery in 1976 as Chateau Ste. Michelle. The winery brought new life to the estate and helped begin Woodinville’s transformation into a destination for wine, food, hospitality, music, and tourism.

The manor house was added to the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing the Stimson estate’s architecture, gardens, and agricultural history.

The first All Fools’ Day Parade brought costumes, humor, and community spirit to downtown Woodinville. The unconventional event became a tradition many longtime residents still remember fondly.

Chateau Ste. Michelle began hosting summer concerts, becoming the first Northwest winery to do so. The series helped establish Woodinville as a place where wine, music, landscape, and memorable experiences came together.

After several earlier attempts, residents voted to incorporate. Woodinville officially became a city on March 31, 1993, 103 years after the original town plat was recorded. Lucy DeYoung, granddaughter of John and Ellen DeYoung, became the city’s first mayor.

The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train carried passengers from Renton to Woodinville for dinner, scenery, and a stop at Columbia Winery. For 15 years, it turned the old rail corridor into one of Woodinville’s best-known visitor experiences.

Woodinville’s historic school became the first home of the newly incorporated city government, connecting the young city with a building that had served generations of residents.

When a new City Hall opened, the historic school faced an uncertain future. Its local landmark designation recognized its architectural and civic importance and supported later efforts to save and restore it.

Twelve local wineries founded Woodinville Wine Country. Working together, they helped turn local wineries and tasting rooms into a recognized destination and gateway to Washington wines.

Construction along Interstate 405 severed the rail connection used by the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train. Its final trip to Woodinville closed a memorable chapter in the railroad story that helped create the town.

Lowell and Al DeYoung purchased their former family home and donated it to the Woodinville Heritage Society. Volunteers began preparing it as a permanent home for Woodinville’s collections and community stories.

The Port of Seattle purchased the former BNSF Eastside rail corridor, preserving it in public ownership. Portions of the historic route began a long transformation into Eastrail, a regional corridor for walking, bicycling, transportation, and recreation.

The DeYoung House was designated a local historic landmark, recognizing it as a rare, well-preserved example of period revival architecture and an important part of Woodinville’s community history.

After years of preparation and restoration, the DeYoung House opened as the Woodinville Heritage Museum. The community finally had a permanent place for its artifacts, photographs, exhibits, family histories, and shared memories.

Just north of Woodinville, King County’s Brightwater Treatment Plant began operating. Its education center, restored natural areas, trails, public art, and environmental programs created a new regional place for learning and gathering.

A community-driven renovation transformed the small downtown park into a welcoming gathering place with swings, public art, an elevated picnic shelter, event space, and room for markets and celebrations.

The Schoolhouse District opened after restoration of the historic Woodinville School. A building that once welcomed students and later served as City Hall began a new life surrounded by shops, restaurants, public spaces, residences, and community activity.

Molbak’s welcomed its final customers on January 28, ending the retail presence of one of Woodinville’s most beloved businesses. Its buildings were demolished later that year, but its influence lives on in Woodinville’s identity as a place of gardens, beauty, gathering, and seasonal tradition.

The Woodinville Heritage Society celebrated its 50th anniversary. What began in 1975 had grown into a museum, archive, educational resource, landmark advocate, exhibit program, and ongoing effort to connect Woodinville’s past, present, and future.