Woodinville, Washington

The City of Woodinville

Ira Woodin and his wife Susan were the first intrepid settlers in what is now Woodinville. Earlier, the Woodins had lived in Seattle long enough to start the first tannery. Then in 1871, they rowed a boat with their belongings up the old Squak Slough to a new piece of tough territory and started all over again.

The beginnings were the usual narrative for most Eastside towns. Harvest the trees, till the new land for crops and farm animals, and try to survive. Over time more and more gritty pioneers came to homestead there and a community gradually took shape along the slough. In the late 1870’s most water commerce was via the steamship Squak, a flat bottomed boat built especially for the slough.

Everyone’s life changed, though, with the arrival of the railroad in the late 1880’s. Now products could quickly get to market, supplies could arrive more reliably, and transient visitors bolstered the local economy.

Life progressed at a leisurely pace another 25 years or so until Seattle engineering projects in 1916 lowered Lake Washington by almost nine feet. This began drying the renamed Sammamish Valley, taming flooding and enabling more land to be used for farming. In the same period, farmers were funding the straightening of the Sammamish River (old Squak Slough) that also helped local conditions.

In 1929, there were only 780 Woodinville residents. Over the following decades, many of the largely undeveloped areas were turned into horse ranches and other low density pursuits. People were just beginning to move to the area as its beauty and rural attributes were being discovered.

In 1970, the town had one stop light, and a local saying that ‘downtown involved slowing down for chickens and geese crossing the road’. During this time though, Woodinville’s first claim to fame occurred in 1969, when a three day Seattle Pop Festival held at Gold Creek Park attracted more than 50,000 fans to listen to 25 of the top music groups of the time including: The Byrds, The Doors, The Guess Who, Led Zeppelin, Ike & Tina Turner, Vanilla Fudge and The Youngbloods.

Peaceful life settled back into its normal rhythm along the Sammamish River with the sole stop light faithfully doing its job day and night. Then one day in 1976, a new curiosity came to town called Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery. It, too, was a pioneer in keeping with the local spirit and it blazed a trail that deserves its own later mention in this historical overview.

Woodinville was beginning to stir from its long slumber and city planners were now looking toward a far different future. In fact, when the Woodinville Towne Center opened in 1986, it was sited on a large piece of vacated open ground right in town that once had been home to the Woodinville Rodeo from 1949 to 1961. Developers took great interest in the housing potential, too, when multi-million dollar homes were built in several prestigious Street of Dreams communities.

Now fondly remembered from a bygone era, the Spirit of Washington dinner train came up from Renton to the Columbia Winery for 15 years from 1992 until 2007. Service ended when work on highway I-405 south of Bellevue cut the rail line. It remains the hope of many that the proud red engine will someday once again be a regular visitor to Woodinville wine country.

The town had two more surprises in store for its future. The first was the relocation of Microsoft to Redmond. The demand for computer specialists was overwhelming and they came to the area from all over the world, and still they come. Not only did this drive local economies, but, also, the education levels and commensurate salaries influenced how Woodinville would plan for its future.

Now with an adequate tax base, Woodinville determined to embrace and preserve its small town atmosphere and still visible historic past, while promoting a healthy small business atmosphere and public amenities for residents to enjoy.

The second surprise: wine. The first grapes in Washington came from seed and some cuttings, grown in both eastern and coastal Washington. Growers had a steep learning curve and our weather proved devastating at times. Nevertheless, funds were invested in eastern Washington between 1891 and 1905 to bring canal water to irrigate vineyards.

Prohibition ended in 1933, and by 1938 there were 42 wineries in the state. The emphasis up to about 1960 was to make grape wines fortified with sweeter fruit brandies. When palates took a new direction favoring unfortified wines, growers started shifting to new varieties as they sought to improve their own unique wine flavors.

Gradually, fledgling family run operations proved their merit as Washington wineries began winning rave reviews. Today, over 75 wineries are located in or near Woodinville. This presence brings significant economic benefit to the state and local regions alike, and supports many thousands of jobs. In addition, wine tourism in Woodinville and statewide is a multi-million dollar draw to our region.

Today, Woodinville is home to a collection of upscale residential developments often tucked away inside forested enclaves. Homes of brick or stone with expansive cedar shake roofs are nestled ever so naturally into the Northwest landscapes. Builders have taken care to preserve as many large Douglas fir trees as possible on properties, and homeowners value the privacy afforded by nature.

Residents have wonderful, northwest architectural options while living only minutes from unseen freeways to take them to work, or for regional shopping. However, the City has its own broad base of shopping and services right in town, and two world class dining destinations as well. The town of 10,972 residents is considered upscale, yet the area still retains the small town look and feel.

The City has a good park and trail system, community play areas, and with lots and lots of sponsored activities for all tastes. Nearby you can fish, backpack, hot air balloon, peruse Molbak’s, or just go to a concert at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery or Red Hook Brewery. The district has great schools, health care, and peaceful neighborhoods. It’s easy to see how Woodinville is a great destination city for vacationers, and a vibrant place to do business.

People here are proud of their town. With an excellent quality of life that begs to be experienced, they warmly welcome you for a visit, and would treasure you as a new community member of the extended Woodin family.