Editing Kirkland, Washington (section)

==History==

The land around Lake Washington to the east of Seattle was first settled by bands of the indigenous [[Duwamish people]], including the ''Xačua’bš'' ("lake people") and ''Tahb-tah-byook''. Several Duwamish village sites lie within the modern-day boundaries of Kirkland, including ''staɬaɬ'' ("a fathom measure") in the modern-day downtown and ''Təb’tubiu'' ("loamy place") at Juanita Bay.<ref name="NativeHistory">{{cite web |year=2021 |title=Kirkland Native History Document |pages=5–9, 14 |url=https://www.kirklandwa.gov/files/sharedassets/public/v/1/city-managers-office/kirkland-native-history-document.pdf |publisher=City of Kirkland |accessdate=February 14, 2025}}</ref> The indigenous settlements were close to natural resources, including salmon, venison, and [[Sagittaria|wapato]] plants harvested for their bulbs.<ref name="NativeHistory"/> Disease such as smallpox eliminated a majority of the local indigenous population with the development around Lake Washington, including lowering the water level for the Ship Canal in 1916 left the remaining population to decline further.<ref name="Code Publishing Company">{{cite web | title=A. About Kirkland | website=Code Publishing Company | url=https://www.codepublishing.com/WA/Kirkland/html/KirklandCP01/KirklandCP01A.html | access-date=2023-01-27}}</ref>

English settlers arrived in the late 1860s, when the McGregor and Popham families built homesteads in what is now the Houghton neighborhood. {{convert|4|mi|0|spell=In}} to the north people also settled near what is now called Juanita Bay, a favored campsite of the Duwamish because of the abundance of wapato there. The Curtis family arrived in the area in the 1870s, followed by the French family in 1872. The [[Forbes Creek (Washington)#Naming|Forbes family]] homesteaded what is now Juanita Beach Park in 1876,<ref name=zooEvolution>{{cite web | last = Stein | first = Alan | title = Juanita Beach Park (Kirkland): HistoryLink.org Essay 4009 | url = http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=4009 | access-date = December 24, 2007 | archive-date = January 14, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080114055609/http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=4009 | url-status = live }}</ref> and settled on Rose Hill in 1877. Gradually, additional people settled in the area, and by the end of the 1880s a small number of logging, farming and boatbuilding communities were established.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/cpsha/esj/short.htm|title=A Short History of Kirkland|author=Alan J. Stein|year=1998|access-date=June 4, 2006|archive-date=January 27, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990127234157/http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/cpsha/esj/short.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Kirkland1912.jpg|thumb|left|Kirkland in 1912, at the modern-day intersection of Fourth Avenue and First Street overlooking [[Lake Washington]]]]
[[File:Kirkland, Washington neighborhood map.png|thumb|left|upright|Map of Kirkland neighborhoods in 2006, prior to several major annexations]]
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|title=Designated city landmarks in Kirkland<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kingcounty.gov/property/historic-preservation/~/media/property/historic_preservation/documents/resources/T06_KCLandmarkList.ashx|title=King County Local and Landmarks List|publisher=King County Historic Preservation Program, Department of Natural Resources and Parks|format=PDF|date=August 2012|access-date=October 9, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127044253/http://www.kingcounty.gov/property/historic-preservation/~/media/property/historic_preservation/documents/resources/T06_KCLandmarkList.ashx|archive-date=January 27, 2013}}</ref>
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 | caption2 = [[Peter Kirk Building]] (built 1890–1892)
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In 1886, [[Peter Kirk (businessman)|Peter Kirk]], a British-born enterprising businessman seeking to expand the family's Moss Bay steel production company, moved to Washington after hearing that [[iron]] deposits had been discovered in the [[Cascade Range]]. Other necessary components such as [[limestone]], needed in steel [[smelting]], were readily available in the area. Further yet, a small number of [[coal mine]]s (a required fuel source for [[steel mill]]s) had recently been established nearby in [[Newcastle, Washington|Newcastle]] and train lines were already under construction. Plans were also underway to build the [[Lake Washington Ship Canal]].

Kirk realized that if a town were built near the water it would be a virtual freshwater port to the sea, as well as help support any prospective mill. At the time, however, Kirk was not a [[United States citizenship|U.S. citizen]] and could not purchase any land. [[Leigh S. J. Hunt]], then owner of the ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]'', offered to partner with Kirk and buy the necessary real estate.

Under their new venture, the Kirkland Land and Development Company, Kirk and Hunt purchased thousands of acres of land in what is now Kirkland's downtown in July 1888. Kirk and his associates started the construction of a new steel mill soon after, named the [[Great Western Iron and Steel Company|Moss Bay Iron and Steel Company of America]]. After founding the city of Kirkland in 1888, officially one of the earliest on the Eastside at the time, Kirk's vision of a "[[Pittsburgh]] of the West" was beginning to take form. Construction soon commenced on several substantial brick homes and business blocks that would house and serve the steel mill employees.

However, the [[Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway]], which had recently been purchased by [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]]-based Northern Pacific, had now refused to construct a rail line to the lake. This would, after all, have a negative impact on Tacoma, which was furiously competing with Seattle as the dominant [[Puget Sound]] seaport. The ensuing financial issues and numerous obstacles took a toll on Kirk, who was running out of investors. Hunt was also in debt from the purchase of land.

Nevertheless, the plans continued and the steel mill was eventually completed in late 1892 on Rose Hill (a full {{convert|2|mi|0}} from the lake's shore). Financial issues arose and due to the [[Panic of 1893]] the mill subsequently closed without ever producing any steel. In spite of everything, Kirk was determined not to give up on his namesake town, and Kirkland was finally incorporated in 1905 with a population of approximately 532. A final attempt at a steel mill in Kirkland was planned by James A. Moore in 1906. His Northwestern Iron & Steel Company paid $250,000 in cash for a {{convert|1500|acre|km2|adj=on}} site, but the mill never materialized. This came at the heels of the Pacific Steel Company, incorporated earlier in 1906 by J.F. Duthie, William Calvert and L.S. Cragin. This company soon amounted to nothing.

In 1900, the Curtis family made a living operating a ferry-construction business on Lake Washington. Along with [[John L. Anderson (shipbuilder)|Captain John Anderson]], the Curtises were among the first to run ferries in the area. ''[[Lake Washington steamboats and ferries#Ferries on Lake Washington|Leschi]]'', first operated on December 27, 1913, was the original wooden ferry to transport automobiles and people between the Eastside and [[Madison Park, Seattle|Madison Park]] until her retirement in 1950. The ferry operations ran nearly continuously for 18 hours each day. The construction of the first [[Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge|Lake Washington floating bridge]] in 1940, however, made ferry service unprofitable and eventually led to its cancellation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=2638 |title=The ferry Leschi makes its last run, ending ferry service on Lake Washington on August 31, 1950 |author=Alan J. Stein |date=August 30, 2000 |publisher=HistoryLink.org |access-date=May 19, 2006 |archive-date=March 1, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060301220859/http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=2638 |url-status=live }}</ref> Subsequent years saw wool milling and warship building become the major industries.

The first woolen mill in the state of Washington was built in Kirkland in 1892. The mill was the primary supplier of wool products for the [[Klondike Gold Rush|Alaska Gold Rush]] prospectors and for the U.S. military during [[World War I]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} By 1917, after the completion of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, the construction of ocean-going vessels had become a major business. By 1940, the thriving [[Lake Washington Shipyard]] had constructed more than 25 warships during [[World War II]] for the U.S. Navy, on what is now Carillon Point.

===Annexations===
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Since the incorporation of Kirkland in 1905, the city has grown to approximately 12 times its original geographic boundaries, nearly doubling in size during the 1940s and 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kirklandwa.gov/Assets/IT/GIS/History+of+Annexations+Map.pdf |title=Kirkland Historical Annexation Areas Map |access-date=July 4, 2018 |archive-date=October 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023120227/https://www.kirklandwa.gov/Assets/IT/GIS/History+of+Annexations+Map.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Kirkland consolidated with the neighboring town of [[Houghton, Washington|Houghton]] on July 31, 1968, to form one city of 13,500. It annexed the neighborhood of Totem Lake in 1974, and the neighborhoods of South Juanita, North Rose Hill, and South Rose Hill in 1988, which were the largest annexations undertaken in Washington in nearly two decades. This added a further 16,119 people to Kirkland's population and was responsible for 76 percent of Kirkland's population increase between 1980 and 1990.

On November 3, 2009, responding to a county initiative to encourage cities to annex or incorporate many of the unincorporated areas within the county,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metrokc.gov/annex/default.aspx |title=King_County_Annexation_Initiative |author=King County, Washington |date=July 4, 2007 |access-date=April 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413234624/http://www.metrokc.gov/annex/default.aspx |archive-date=April 13, 2009 }}</ref> as well as a state sales tax incentive intended to ease the process,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2005-06/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/6686-S.PL.pdf |title=Bill 6686 |author=State of Washington |date=July 7, 2006 |access-date=April 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405175513/http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2005-06/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/6686-S.PL.pdf |archive-date=April 5, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> three previously unincorporated districts north of the city—[[Inglewood-Finn Hill, Washington|Finn Hill]], [[Juanita, Washington|North Juanita]], and [[Kingsgate, Washington|Kingsgate]]—voted on whether to annex to Kirkland. The measure failed by seven votes to reach the 60% margin, which was required because the measure included accepting a share of the city's voter-approved debt.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/200911/Respage61.aspx |title=Election results |access-date=December 26, 2009 |archive-date=January 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108013326/http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/200911/Respage61.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> However, since the affirmative vote was over 50%, the city council could and did vote to accept the annexation, without the assumption of debt.<ref name=AcceptAnnexation>{{cite web |title=City Council Accepts Annexation |url=http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/News_Room/NR121609annexaccept.htm |access-date=December 26, 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

The annexation added 33,000 residents (combined total population of around 80,000)<ref name="Tsong-Long">Nicole Tsong and Katherine Long, [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010195925_elexeastside04m.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091107021159/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010195925_elexeastside04m.html|date=November 7, 2009}}, ''Seattle Times'', originally published November 3, 2009 at 9:48 PM, modified November 4, 2009 at 12:39 AM. Accessed online November 4, 2009.</ref> and nearly {{convert|7|sqmi|km2}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009006211_webannexation08m.html |title=SeattleTimesAnnexation |author=Seattle Times |date=April 8, 2009 |access-date=April 10, 2009 |work=The Seattle Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411020138/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009006211_webannexation08m.html |archive-date=April 11, 2009 }}</ref> to Kirkland on June 1, 2011. For a 10-year period from 2011 to 2021, the city was eligible and filed annually for a special Annexation State Sales Tax Credit (ASTC) from the State of Washington to bridge the millions of dollars deficit in providing municipal services in the annexation area. The ASTC expired in 2021.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.kirklandwa.gov/files/sharedassets/public/city-council/agenda-documents/2021/february-16-2021/8h6_other-items-of-business.pdf |title=Annexation State Sales Tax Credit Resolution |author=Kurt Triplett |date=January 29, 2021 |access-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184637/https://www.kirklandwa.gov/files/sharedassets/public/city-council/agenda-documents/2021/february-16-2021/8h6_other-items-of-business.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>