Editing Brier, Washington (section)

==History==

Brier is located in the traditional territory of several [[Coast Salish]] peoples, including the [[Sammamish people|Sammamish]], [[Snohomish people|Snohomish]], and [[Suquamish]]. The area around modern-day Swamp Creek was known as ''dxʷɬ(ə)q̓ ab'', meaning "other side of something" and "a wide place", in the [[Lushootseed]] language.<ref name="Book2020">{{cite book |year=2020 |title=Brier: We Haven't Changed...Much |page=4 |url=http://www.ci.brier.wa.us/community/pdf/brierhistory.pdf |publisher=City of Brier |accessdate=January 7, 2024}}</ref>

The first European-descendant settlers in the Brier area, the Salty family, arrived from [[Finland]] in 1883 and constructed a cabin to establish a [[Homestead Act]] claim. They were followed by loggers who cleared land that had already been sold to the founders of the [[Puget Mill Company]]. The first area school was built on land donated by the Salty family in September 1896 and later replaced with the Cedar Valley School in 1911.<ref name="Book2020"/>{{rp|6–7}} By 1915, much of the forestland around modern-day Brier was cleared.<ref name="PI-1999">{{cite news |last=Slivka |first=Judd |date=June 12, 1999 |title=Here, it's all play and no work |page=D1 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref>

The Brier area was known for its [[mink]] farms and later gave way to suburban [[ranch house]]s in the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name="PI-1999"/> The Shasta Park [[subdivision (land)|subdivision]] was created in 1924 and further developed into smaller lots by the early 1950s.<ref name="Book2020"/>{{rp|9}} Brier was named for an existing road that bisected the subdivision where the community was developed in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=James W. |year=1971 |title=Washington State Place Names |page=[https://archive.org/details/washingtonstatep00phil/page/17 17] |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=0-295-95158-3 |oclc=1052713900 |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtonstatep00phil |url-access=registration |via=[[The Internet Archive]] |access-date=November 18, 2019}}</ref>

Brier was officially incorporated as a city on February 11, 1965, after an emergency vote following a proposal from a developer to annex the area into neighboring [[Mountlake Terrace, Washington|Mountlake Terrace]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Dougherty |first=Phil |date=March 19, 2008 |title=Brier incorporates on February 11, 1965. |url=https://historylink.org/File/8537 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |access-date=November 18, 2019}}</ref> [[Boeing]] engineer Richard Balser was elected as the city's first mayor and the first city hall was in the home of a local resident who rented a room to the city government for $50 per month. Brier gained approximately 1,000 residents within ten years and opened its permanent city hall and public library in 1974; a city park opened in 1976 as part of the [[United States Bicentennial|national bicentennial]] celebrations.<ref name="Herald-Rural">{{cite news |last=Tod |first=Diane |date=June 29, 1976 |title=Brier residents fought to keep rural flavor |page=SC16 |work=The Everett Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-herald-brier-residents-fought/157337730/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=October 17, 2024}}</ref> The area was gradually developed into a more suburban community, growing to over 6,000 people by 1999.<ref name="PI-1999"/> Since its incorporation, several elected officials in Brier have been recalled or forced to resign over various misconduct allegations and convictions.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Diane |date=June 8, 2005 |title=Brier's rocky political history |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20050608/timeline08n/briers-rocky-political-history |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=November 18, 2019}}</ref> A new [[city hall]] opened in April 2005, replacing a leased office.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schwarzen |first=Christopher |date=April 27, 2005 |title=New City Hall leaves trailers, basements behind |page=H6 |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/new-city-hall-leaves-trailers-basements-behind/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=April 12, 2020}}</ref>