Editing Mukilteo, Washington (section)

===Incorporation and late 20th century===
[[File:Aerial Paine Field August 2009.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of [[Paine Field]], home to the [[Boeing Everett Factory]]|alt=Aerial view of an airport with several runways and taxiways, surrounded by warehouses and other buildings.]]

On April 29, 1947, Mukilteo residents voted 223 to 137 in favor of [[municipal incorporation|incorporating]] as a fourth-class city and elected school administrator Alfred Tunem as its first mayor. The incorporation was certified by the state government on May 8; at the time, Mukilteo had an estimated population of 775 people and encompassed {{convert|794|acre}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dougherty |first=Phil |date=January 10, 2011 |title=Mukilteo incorporates on May 8, 1947. |url=http://historylink.org/File/9690 |work=HistoryLink |access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref><ref name="ComprehensivePlan">{{cite web |date=October 5, 2015 |title=City of Mukilteo Comprehensive Plan |pages=6–8 |url=https://mukilteowa.gov/wp-content/uploads/Reduced_Comp-Plan-Final-20180610.pdf |publisher=City of Mukilteo |ref={{SfnRef|City of Mukilteo Comprehensive Plan|2015}} |access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref> The new municipal government took over services that were previously handled by the self-organized Mukilteo Improvement Club, which was established in the 1930s.<ref name="Magazine2015"/> The area experienced additional population and commercial growth after the opening of [[Boeing]]'s [[Boeing Everett Factory|Paine Field factory]] for passenger [[jetliner]]s in 1967, which was connected to Mukilteo by a short railroad along the floor of Japanese Gulch.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dominguez |first=Alejandro |date=March 23, 2012 |title=Boeing's history in Everett |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/boeings-history-in-everett/ |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Barr |first=Robert A. |date=November 13, 1966 |title='Impossible' Railroad Works |page=3 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> The [[Washington State Route 526|Boeing Freeway]] was opened in 1969, linking southern Mukilteo and the Boeing plant to a junction with [[Interstate 5 in Washington|Interstate 5]] near the newly built [[Everett Mall]].<ref>{{cite news |date=September 1969 |title=Casino Road in Everett |page=7 |work=Washington Highway News |publisher=Washington State Department of Highways |oclc=29654162 |url=https://cdm16977.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16977coll1/id/5524/ |via=WSDOT Library Digital Collections |access-date=November 4, 2018}}</ref>

Mukilteo completed its first major [[annexation]] in November 1980, adding 2,500 people living on {{convert|2|sqmi|sqkm}} to the south along [[Washington State Route 525|State Route 525]]. This annexation nearly tripled the city's population and doubled its land area.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bergsman |first=Jerry |date=October 21, 1987 |title=Growth changing Mukilteo's political priorities |page=H1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> Additional annexations and natural growth by the end of the decade brought the city's population to 6,000.<ref name="Times-HP88">{{cite news |last=Bergsman |first=Jerry |date=November 17, 1988 |title=Mukilteo and Harbour Pointe talk annexation |page=C3 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> The annexation of the large Harbour Pointe community was completed in 1991 and doubled the city's size to {{convert|6.6|sqmi|km2|2}}.<ref name="Times-1991HB"/> A competing proposal had sought to incorporate the [[planned community]] into a new city of 24,000 people, tentatively named Highland Bay,<ref>{{cite news |last=Iwasaki |first=John |date=July 21, 1989 |title=The land grab is on for 'Highland Bay' |page=B2 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer}}</ref> but residents supported annexation as a mutually agreeable option to reduce their taxes and benefit from city services.<ref name="Times-1990HB">{{cite news |last=Koch |first=Anne |date=December 12, 1990 |title=Many say annexation fine idea |page=F1 |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19901212/1109088/many-say-annexation-fine-idea----harbour-pointe-residents-testify-before-state-board |access-date=November 9, 2018}}</ref> The annexation was also influenced by the county government's plans to allow passenger flights from Paine Field, which residents in Mukilteo and Harbour Pointe opposed alongside other nearby cities.<ref name="Times-1992">{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Diane |date=April 2, 1992 |title=Growing pains and gains |page=E1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> The county ultimately withdrew their proposal to introduce passenger flights.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schaefer |first=David |date=March 5, 1993 |title=Panel recommends no airport expansion |page=B3 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>

Several parties that opposed the annexation, including the county [[fire department|fire district]], withdrew their complaints and allowed Mukilteo to annex Harbour Pointe on March 26, 1991.<ref name="Times-1991HB">{{cite news |last=Lobos |first=Ignacio |date=March 26, 1991 |title=Mukilteo annexes Harbour Pointe |page=E1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=March 15, 1991 |title=Fire district withdraws its Harbour Pointe suit |page=C2 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer}}</ref> The annexation added 4,779 residents and {{convert|3.4|sqmi|sqkm}} to Mukilteo, doubling the city's population to 6,662 and size to {{convert|6.6|sqmi|sqkm}}.<ref name="Times-1991HB"/><ref>{{cite news |date=March 27, 1991 |title=Mukilteo city council votes to annex Harbour Pointe |page=B1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> It required the construction of two new [[fire station]]s, three schools, and a new [[city hall]] to house new employees.<ref name="Times-1992"/> [[Kamiak High School]] was built in the Harbour Pointe area and opened in 1993 to serve Mukilteo, which had outgrown [[Mariner High School (Everett, Washington)|Mariner High School]], and featured a technology-oriented curriculum.<ref name="PI-1997"/><ref name="Times-Kamiak93">{{cite news |last=Parrish |first=Linda W.Y. |date=September 9, 1993 |title=Cool schools: Mukilteo School District boldly heads into a new era of high-tech education |page=H1 |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19930909/1720118/cool-schools |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=November 30, 2018}}</ref> The full build-out of Harbour Pointe increased the city's population to over 18,000 by 2000, a 1,164 percent increase from 1980.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Mike |date=March 27, 2001 |title=I-5 drives population increase |page=A1 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer}}</ref> The geographic and commercial center of Mukilteo was shifted further south towards Harbour Pointe, leading to cultural clashes with residents of older neighborhoods.<ref name="PI-1997"/>