Editing Bellevue, Washington (section)

==History==
The [[Duwamish people|Duwamish]], whose main settlements were located in present-day Renton and Seattle, maintained a small outpost settlement called Satskal (''SAH-tsah-kahl'') along the [[Mercer Slough]], south of present-day downtown Bellevue.<ref name=neiwert28>{{Cite book| last = Neiwert | first = David | title = Strawberry Days | url = https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 2005 | page = [https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0/page/28 28] | isbn = 978-1403967923}}</ref> It was from this village that an attack on the settlers of Elliott Bay was staged. The Duwamish also had a village near Factoria called 'pah-pah-DEEL'.<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 13, 2019|title=Village Descriptions--Duwamish-Seattle|url=http://coastsalishmap.org/Village_Descriptions_Duwamish-Seattle.htm#17|access-date=August 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913221956/http://coastsalishmap.org/Village_Descriptions_Duwamish-Seattle.htm#17|archive-date=September 13, 2019}}</ref>

Bellevue was first settled by European Americans in 1869 by William Meydenbauer and Aaron Mercer, who claimed homestead tracts several miles apart. Both moved away within a few years, and permanent residents did not arrive until 1879. By 1882, a community, consisting mostly of logging homesteaders, had established itself.<ref name=neiwert28/> Once the land had been logged, it was gradually cleared, largely by Japanese immigrant labor in the early 20th century, to support small-scale farming on leased land plots.<ref name=neiwert31>{{Cite book| last = Neiwert | first = David | title = Strawberry Days | url = https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 2005 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0/page/11 11], 31 | isbn = 978-1403967923}}</ref>

By the early part of the 20th century, Bellevue had acquired a reputation as a weekend getaway destination for Seattle residents, who would arrive by ferry at Meydenbauer Bay and spend the day at nearby Wildwood Park.<ref name=neiwert68>{{Cite book| last = Neiwert | first = David | title = Strawberry Days | url = https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 2005 | page = [https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0/page/68 68] | isbn = 978-1403967923}}</ref> After the ferry landing was moved to [[Medina, Washington|Medina]], however, tourism to Bellevue waned. To counter this decline, the Bellevue Strawberry Festival was conceived of in 1925, and by the 1930s it had grown to attract as many as 15,000 visitors. At the time, Bellevue was still a small town with around 2,000 residents.<ref name=neiwert69>{{Cite book| last = Neiwert | first = David | title = Strawberry Days | url = https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 2005 | page = [https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0/page/69 69] | isbn = 978-1403967923}}</ref>

Prior to the opening of the [[Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge|Lake Washington Floating Bridge]] in 1940, Bellevue was mostly rural farmland area with little development. Although it was small, developers were pushing to change that; in the 1920s, [[James S. Ditty]] predicted that it would become a city with a population of 200,000.<ref name=future>Welch, Bob. ''Bellevue and the New Eastside a Contemporary Portrait''. Chatsworth: Windsor Publications, 1989. {{ISBN|0-89781-331-6}}.</ref> He envisioned plans that included the bridging of Lake Washington and an area filled with golf courses and airports.<ref name=map/> His map with these visions was published in 1928.<ref name=map>{{Cite web | url = https://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/this-was-the-future-of-bellevue-in-1928/ | title = This Was the Future of Bellevue In 1928. | date = January 12, 2010}}</ref> Once the Murrow Memorial Bridge opened, access from Seattle improved, and the area began to evolve into a [[bedroom community]].<ref name="city_history">{{cite web | url = http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=313 | title = Bellevue – Thumbnail History | publisher = [[HistoryLink]] | date = November 9, 1998 | last = Stein | first = Alan J. | access-date = June 9, 2008}}</ref>

In 1942, the Bellevue Strawberry Festival was cancelled. The primary reason was that some 90 percent of the agricultural workforce in the area was of Japanese ancestry, and all of these farmers and their families had been forcibly [[Internment of Japanese Americans|interned in camps]] following the start of World War II.<ref name=neiwert155>{{Cite book| last = Neiwert | first = David | title = Strawberry Days | url = https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 2005 | page = [https://archive.org/details/strawberrydaysho00neiw_0/page/155 155]| isbn = 978-1403967923}}</ref> The fair would not be revived for another 45 years. Following the expulsion of the ethnic Japanese farming community, a large quantity of farmland became available for development.<ref>{{cite web | last1 = Marsha | first1 = Alia | title = How Bellevue businessmen who stoked fears benefited after Japanese American incarceration | url = http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2017/02/19/anti-japanese-movement-led-development-bellevue/62732 | website = The Seattle Globalist | access-date = February 21, 2017 | date = February 19, 2017}}</ref> This made way for the initial development of the Bellevue downtown area.
[[File:MeydenbauerBay1902.jpg|left|thumb|Bellevue seen from Meydenbauer Bay in 1902]]

Bellevue incorporated as a third-class city on the March 31, 1953.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://historylink.org/File/3552 | title = City of Bellevue is incorporated on March 31, 1953. | publisher = [[HistoryLink]] | date = September 10, 2001}}</ref> Following the 1963 opening of a second bridge across the lake, the [[Evergreen Point Floating Bridge]], the city began to grow more rapidly. The [[Crossroads, Bellevue|Crossroads]] community was annexed in 1964.<ref name=crossroads>{{cite web | url = http://www.historylink.org/File/20142 | title = Crossroads Library, King County Library System | publisher = [[HistoryLink]] | date = September 28, 2016 | last = Schein | first = Michael}}</ref> [[Lake Hills, Bellevue|Lake Hills]] was annexed in 1969.<ref name=lakehills>{{cite web | url = http://www.historylink.org/File/20138 | title = Lake Hills Library, King County Library System | publisher = [[HistoryLink]] | date = September 27, 2016 | last = Schein | first = Michael}}</ref> By the 1970 census, Bellevue had become the fourth most populous city in the state of Washington, behind only Seattle, [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]], and [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]].<ref name=1970census>{{cite web | url = http://historylink.org/File/9426 | title = HistoryLink: 1970 Census | publisher = [[HistoryLink]] | date = May 18, 2010 | last = Caldbick | first = John}}</ref>

Bellevue remains one of the largest cities in the state, with several high-rise structures in its core and a burgeoning business community. The city experienced a building boom during the mid-2000s, with the building of developments such as [[Lincoln Square (Bellevue)|Lincoln Square]] and the Bravern.<ref name="city_history" />

[[Bellevue Square]] is located in downtown Bellevue and is now one of the largest [[shopping center]]s in the region. Opened in 1946,<ref name="city_history" /> the mall has undergone several significant phases of expansion since the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The city's plans include the Bel-Red Corridor Project, a large-scale planning effort to encourage the redevelopment of {{convert|900|acre|km2}} in the large [[Bel-Red, Bellevue|Bel-Red]] section of the city bordering the adjacent city of [[Redmond, Washington|Redmond]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/bel-red_intro.htm | title = Bel-Red Area Transformation | publisher = City of Bellevue | access-date = July 18, 2008 |url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161130204932/http://ci.bellevue.wa.us/bel-red_intro.htm | archive-date = November 30, 2016}}</ref> The plan is similar to the redevelopment of the downtown core with [[Superblock (urban planning)|superblock]]s of [[Mixed-use development|mixed-use]] projects from private developers.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} These include the [[Spring District]], a mixed-use residential and commercial neighborhood which was developed on {{convert|36|acre|ha}} of industrial land around a future light rail station.<ref>{{cite news |last=Whitman |first=Victor |date=October 6, 2023 |title=Bellevue's Spring District grapples with Meta's shifting office plans |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/bellevues-spring-district-grapples-with-metas-shifting-office-plans/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=February 10, 2025}}</ref> The [[2 Line (Sound Transit)|2 Line]] of [[Link light rail]] was opened from [[South Bellevue station]] to [[Redmond Technology station]] in April 2024 and is scheduled to be extended to Seattle in late 2025.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lindblom |first1=Mike |last2=Kroman |first2=David |date=April 27, 2024 |title=Eastside light rail line opens as huge crowds try out the ride |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/eastside-light-rail-line-opens-as-huge-crowds-try-out-the-ride/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=February 10, 2025}}</ref>