King County, Washington
King County, Washington | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 King County Courthouse | |||
| |||
 Location within the U.S. state of Washington | |||
 Washington's location within the U.S. | |||
| Founded | December 22, 1852 | ||
| Named for | William Rufus King (1852–2005) Martin Luther King, Jr. (2005–present) | ||
| Seat | Seattle | ||
| Largest city | Seattle | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 2,307 sq mi (5,975 km2) | ||
| • Land | 2,116 sq mi (5,480 km2) | ||
| • Water | 191 sq mi (495 km2), 8.3% | ||
| Population (est.) | |||
| • (2017) | 2,188,649 | ||
| • Density | 1,034/sq mi (399/km2) | ||
| Congressional districts | 1st, 7th, 8th, 9th | ||
| Time zone | Pacific: UTC−8/−7 | ||
| Website | www.kingcounty.gov | ||
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,188,649 in the 2017 census estimate. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle,[1] which is the state's largest city.
King County is one of three Washington counties that are included in the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area. (The others are Snohomish County to the north, and Pierce County to the south.) About two-thirds of King County's population lives in Seattle's suburbs.
Contents
1 History
2 Name
3 Geography
3.1 Geographic features
3.1.1 Terrain
3.1.2 Water
3.2 Major highways
3.3 Adjacent counties
3.4 National protected areas
4 Demographics
4.1 2010 census
5 Government
5.1 Council members
6 Politics
7 Education
7.1 K–12 schools
7.2 Public libraries
8 Communities
8.1 Cities
8.2 Towns
8.3 Census-designated places
8.4 Other unincorporated communities
8.5 Former cities and towns
8.6 Ghost towns
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
History
The county was formed out of territory within Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the Oregon Territory legislature, and was named after Alabama resident William R. King, who had just been elected Vice President of the United States under President Franklin Pierce. Seattle was made the county seat on January 11, 1853.[2][3] The area became part of the Washington Territory when it was created later that year.
King County originally extended to the Olympic Peninsula. According to historian Bill Speidel, when peninsular prohibitionists threatened to shut down Seattle’s saloons, Doc Maynard engineered a peninsular independence movement; King County lost what is now Kitsap County, but preserved its entertainment industry.[4]
Name
On February 24, 1986, a motion to change the namesake to Martin Luther King Jr.[5] was passed by the King County Council five votes to four.[6][7] The motion stated, among other reasons for the change, that "William Rufus DeVane King was a slaveowner and a ‘gentle slave monger’ according to John Quincy Adams."[8] Because only the state can charter counties, the change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law Senate Bill 5332, which provided that "King county is renamed in honor of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.," effective July 24, 2005.[9][10][11]
The County Council voted on February 27, 2006 to adopt the proposal sponsored by Councilmember Larry Gossett to change the county's logo from an imperial crown to an image of Martin Luther King.[12] On March 12, 2007, the new logo was unveiled.[13] The new logo design was developed by the Gable Design Group and the specific image was selected by a committee consisting of King County Executive Ron Sims, Council Chair Larry Gossett, Prosecutor Norm Maleng, Sheriff Sue Rahr, District Court Judge Corrina Harn, and Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey.[14]
Martin Luther King Jr. visited King County for two days in November 1961.[15]
Geography
Map of King County
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,307 square miles (5,980 km2), of which 2,116 square miles (5,480 km2) is land and 191 square miles (490 km2) (8.3%) is water.[16] King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at 7,959 feet (2,426 meters) above sea level.
King County borders Snohomish County to the north, Kitsap County to the west, Kittitas County to the east, and Pierce County to the south. It also shares a small border with Chelan County to the northeast. King County includes Vashon Island and Maury Island in Puget Sound.
Geographic features
The Cascade Range (including Granite Mountain shown here) dominates the eastern part of King County.
Terrain
- Cascade Range
- Issaquah Alps
- Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Mount Daniel, the highest point- Mount Si
- Harbor Island
- Maury Island
- Mercer Island
- Sammamish Plateau
- Vashon Island
Water
- Cedar River
- Green/Duwamish River
- Elliott Bay
- Greenwater River
- Issaquah Creek
- Lake Sammamish
- Lake Union
- Lake Washington
- Lake Youngs
- Pratt River
- Puget Sound
- Raging River
- Skykomish River
- Snoqualmie River
- Taylor River
- Tolt River
- White River
Major highways
Interstate 5
Interstate 90
Interstate 405
U.S. Route 2
State Route 18
State Route 99
State Route 167
State Route 520
State Route 522
Interstate 5
Interstate 90
Interstate 405
U.S. Route 2
State Route 18
State Route 99
State Route 167
State Route 520
State Route 522
Adjacent counties
Snohomish County – north
Pierce County – south
Chelan County – east/northeast
Kittitas County – east/southeast
Kitsap County – west
National protected areas
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (part, also in Skagway, Alaska)
Snoqualmie National Forest (part)
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1860 | 302 | — | |
| 1870 | 2,120 | 602.0% | |
| 1880 | 6,910 | 225.9% | |
| 1890 | 63,989 | 826.0% | |
| 1900 | 110,053 | 72.0% | |
| 1910 | 284,638 | 158.6% | |
| 1920 | 389,273 | 36.8% | |
| 1930 | 463,517 | 19.1% | |
| 1940 | 504,980 | 8.9% | |
| 1950 | 732,992 | 45.2% | |
| 1960 | 935,014 | 27.6% | |
| 1970 | 1,156,633 | 23.7% | |
| 1980 | 1,269,749 | 9.8% | |
| 1990 | 1,507,319 | 18.7% | |
| 2000 | 1,737,034 | 15.2% | |
| 2010 | 1,931,249 | 11.2% | |
| Est. 2017 | 2,188,649 | [17] | 13.3% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[18] 1790–1960[19] 1900–1990[20] 1990–2000[21] 2010–2016 | |||
The center of population of the state of Washington in 2010 was located in eastern King County (47°19′51″N 121°37′12″W / 47.330750°N 121.619994°W / 47.330750; -121.619994 (Washington center of population, 2010)).[22] King County's own center of population was located on Mercer Island (47°32′54″N 122°13′48″W / 47.548320°N 122.229983°W / 47.548320; -122.229983 (King County center of population, 2010)).[23]
2010 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 1,931,249 people, 789,232 households, and 461,510 families residing in the county.[24] The population density was 912.9 inhabitants per square mile (352.5/km2). There were 851,261 housing units at an average density of 402.4 per square mile (155.4/km2).[25] The racial makeup of the county was 68.7% White (64.8% Non-Hispanic White), 6.2% African American, 14.6% Asian, 0.8% Pacific Islander, 0.8% Native American, 3.9% from other races, and 5.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.9% of the population.[24] In terms of ancestry, 17.1% were German, 11.6% were English, 11.1% were Irish, 5.5% were Norwegian, and 2.9% were American.[26]
Of the 789,232 households, 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 41.5% were non-families, and 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.05. The median age was 37.1 years.[24]
The median income for a household in the county was $68,065 and the median income for a family was $87,010. Males had a median income of $62,373 versus $45,761 for females. The per capita income for the county was $38,211. About 6.4% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.[27]
Government
The present King County Courthouse (2007)
The King County Executive (currently Dow Constantine) heads the county's executive branch. The King County Prosecuting Attorney (currently Dan Satterberg), Elections Director (currently Julie Wise), Sheriff (currently Mitzi Johanknecht), and the King County Assessor (currently John Wilson) are also elected executive positions. Judicial power is vested in the King County Superior Court and the King County District Court. Seattle houses the King County Courthouse.
King County is represented in the United States Congress through a near-entirety of the population in the 7th and 9th Congressional Districts, a majority of the population in the 8th Congressional District and a plurality of the population in the 1st Congressional District. In the state legislature, King contains the entirety of the 5th, 11th, 33rd, 34th, 36th, 37th, 41st, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th legislative districts as well as the near-entirety of the 30th legislative district, about one-half of the 32nd legislative district, about one-third of the 1st and 31st legislative district, and a mere 627 people in the 39th legislative district.[citation needed]
The people of King County voted on September 5, 1911 to create a Port District. King County's Port of Seattle was established as the first Port District in Washington State. The Port of Seattle is King County's only Port District. It is governed by five Port Commissioners, who are elected countywide and serve four-year terms. The Port of Seattle owns and operates many properties on behalf of King County's citizens, including Sea-Tac International Airport; many seaport facilities around Elliott Bay, including its original property, publicly owned Fishermen's Terminal, home to the North Pacific fishing fleet and the largest homeport for fishermen in the U.S. West Coast;[citation needed] four container ship terminals; two cruise ship terminals; the largest grain export terminal in the U.S. Pacific Northwest; three public marinas; 22 public parks; and nearly 5,000 acres of industrial lands in the Ballard-Interbay and Lower Duwamish industrial centers.
Council members
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Politics
King County and Seattle are strongly associated with liberal politics; the area is a bastion for the Democratic Party. No Republican presidential candidate has garnered the majority of the county's votes since Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection victory in 1984. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama defeated John McCain in the county by 42 percentage points, a larger margin than any previous election. Slightly more than 29% of Washington state's population reside in King County, making it a significant factor for the Democrats in a few recent close statewide elections. In 2000, it was King County that pushed Maria Cantwell's total over that of incumbent Republican Slade Gorton, winning her a seat in the United States Senate. In 2004, King County gave a lead to Democrat Christine Gregoire in the second recount in the state's gubernatorial election, pushing her ahead of Republican Dino Rossi, who led by 261 votes after the initial count.[28] Rossi resided in the county at the time of the election, in Sammamish.
The suburbs east and south of Seattle have historically tended to be moderate. In the 2005 County Executive race, Republican David Irons beat Democrat Ron Sims outside of Seattle (which voted 74% for Sims), but in 2004, John Kerry received landslide victories in much of the Bellevue and Redmond areas. Generally the suburbs are becoming more liberal on the state and county levels.
In 2004, voters passed a referendum reducing the size of the County Council from 13 members to 9. This resulted in all council seats ending up on the 2005 ballot.
Some residents of eastern King County have long desired to secede and form their own county. This movement was most vocal in the mid-1990s (see Cedar County, Washington).[29][30] It has recently been revived as Cascade County.[31] According to a map published by the Seattle Times,[32] four different geographic borders are being considered. Additional plans (see Skykomish County, Washington) also exist or have existed.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third parties |
|---|---|---|---|
2016 | 21.0% 216,339 | 69.9% 718,322 | 9.1% 93,789 |
2012 | 28.4% 275,700 | 68.7% 668,004 | 2.9% 28,317 |
2008 | 28.0% 259,716 | 70.0% 648,230 | 2.0% 18,511 |
2004 | 33.7% 301,043 | 64.9% 580,378 | 1.5% 13,307 |
2000 | 34.4% 273,171 | 60.0% 476,700 | 5.6% 44,325 |
1996 | 31.4% 232,811 | 56.4% 417,846 | 12.2% 90,447 |
1992 | 27.4% 212,986 | 50.2% 391,050 | 22.4% 174,557 |
1988 | 44.8% 290,574 | 53.9% 349,663 | 1.3% 8,720 |
1984 | 52.1% 332,987 | 46.7% 298,620 | 1.2% 7,654 |
1980 | 45.4% 272,567 | 39.2% 235,046 | 15.4% 92,544 |
1976 | 50.8% 279,382 | 45.2% 248,743 | 4.0% 21,994 |
1972 | 56.4% 298,707 | 40.1% 212,509 | 3.5% 18,478 |
1968 | 46.0% 218,457 | 47.1% 223,469 | 7.0% 33,009 |
1964 | 39.4% 177,598 | 59.5% 268,216 | 1.1% 4,826 |
1960 | 50.9% 224,150 | 47.4% 208,756 | 1.8% 7,904 |
1956 | 55.3% 213,504 | 43.4% 167,443 | 1.4% 5,276 |
1952 | 53.9% 200,507 | 44.5% 165,583 | 1.5% 5,681 |
1948 | 44.9% 131,039 | 49.1% 143,295 | 5.9% 17,301 |
1944 | 41.4% 118,719 | 57.7% 165,308 | 0.9% 2,577 |
1940 | 39.5% 95,504 | 59.2% 143,134 | 1.3% 3,165 |
1936 | 31.7% 66,544 | 66.0% 138,597 | 2.3% 4,904 |
1932 | 34.4% 63,346 | 59.1% 108,738 | 6.5% 11,947 |
1928 | 65.6% 96,263 | 31.8% 46,604 | 2.6% 3,811 |
1924 | 53.5% 60,438 | 6.6% 7,404 | 39.9% 45,098 |
1920 | 54.7% 58,584 | 16.2% 17,369 | 29.1% 31,171 |
1916 | 40.7% 38,959 | 54.7% 52,362 | 4.6% 4,387 |
1912 | 21.9% 15,579 | 28.2% 20,088 | 50.0% 35,642 |
1908 | 55.8% 22,297 | 36.6% 14,644 | 7.6% 3,052 |
1904 | 70.4% 20,434 | 18.1% 5,266 | 11.5% 3,329 |
1900 | 54.3% 10,218 | 41.4% 7,804 | 4.3% 810 |
1896 | 44.8% 6,413 | 54.1% 7,733 | 1.1% 159 |
1892 | 44.2% 6,520 | 33.7% 4,974 | 22.1% 3,268 |
Education
K–12 schools
- Auburn School District
- Bellevue School District
- Enumclaw School District
- Federal Way Public Schools
- Highline School District
- Issaquah School District
- Kent School District
- Lake Washington School District
- Mercer Island School District
- Northshore School District
- Renton School District
- Riverview School District
- Seattle Public Schools
- Shoreline School District
- Snoqualmie Valley School District
- Tahoma School District
- Tukwila School District
- Vashon Island School District
Public libraries
Most of King County is served by the King County Library System. The Seattle Public Library serves the City of Seattle.
Communities
Cities
- Algona
Auburn (partial)- Bellevue
- Black Diamond
Bothell (partial)- Burien
- Carnation
- Clyde Hill
- Covington
- Des Moines
- Duvall
- Enumclaw
- Federal Way
- Issaquah
- Kenmore
- Kent
- Kirkland
- Lake Forest Park
- Maple Valley
- Medina
- Mercer Island
Milton (partial)- Newcastle
- Normandy Park
- North Bend
Pacific (partial)- Redmond
- Renton
- Sammamish
- SeaTac
Seattle (county seat)- Shoreline
- Snoqualmie
- Tukwila
- Woodinville
Towns
- Beaux Arts Village
- Hunts Point
- Skykomish
- Yarrow Point
Census-designated places
- Ames Lake
- Baring
- Boulevard Park
- Bryn Mawr-Skyway
- Cottage Lake
- East Renton Highlands
- Fairwood
- Fall City
- Hobart
Klahanie (former)- Lake Holm
- Lake Marcel-Stillwater
- Lake Morton-Berrydale
- Lakeland North
- Lakeland South
- Maple Heights-Lake Desire
- Mirrormont
- Ravensdale
- Riverbend
Riverton (former)- Shadow Lake
- Tanner
- Union Hill-Novelty Hill
- Vashon
- Westwood
- White Center
- Wilderness Rim
Other unincorporated communities
- Bayne
- Cedar Falls
- Cumberland
- Denny Creek
- Ernie's Grove
- Grotto
- Kanaskat
- Kangley
- Lake Joy
- Naco
- Novelty
- Palmer
- Preston
- Selleck
- Spring Glen
- Wabash
Former cities and towns
- East Redmond
- Foster
- Houghton
Ghost towns
- Cedar Falls (aka Moncton)
- Edgewick
- Franklin
- Hot Springs
- Krain
- Lester
- Monohon
- Nagrom
- Osceola
- Snoqualmie Falls
- Taylor
- Wellington
- Weston
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in King County, Washington
References
^ "Court Directory: County-City Reference List". Washington Courts. Retrieved 2017-05-07..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "Milestones for Washington State History — Part 2: 1851 to 1900". HistoryLink.org. 2003-03-06.
^ Reinartz, Kay. "History of King County Government 1853–2002" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
^ Bill Speidel, Doc Maynard, The Man Who Invented Seattle (Seattle: Nettle Creek Publishing Co., 1978) (
ISBN 0-914890-02-6).
^ "County's Name Is Same, But Meaning Is All New". Toledo Blade. Google News Archive Search. Associated Press. 25 February 1986.
^ "What's in a Name? King County renamed for civil rights leader". Spokane Chronicle. Google News Archive Search. Associated Press. 25 February 1986.
^ Sims, Ron. "Motion redesignating King County's name". Archived from the original on 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
^ "King County Council names county after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on February 24, 1986. - HistoryLink.org". www.historylink.org.
^ "2005 Senate Bill 5332: Honoring the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr". WashingtonVotes.org. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
^ "Bill Information, SB 5332 - 2005-06 - Honoring the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr". Washington State Legislature. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
^ ENGROSSED SENATE BILL 5332, 59th Legislature of the State of Washington, 2005 Regular Session.
^ Ervin, Keith (February 28, 2006). "County logo to get makeover, show MLK". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2006.
^ "Executive praises County Council for approval of new logo". 2007-12-29. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02.
^ "Background about the logo- King County - King County". www.kingcounty.gov.
^ "Martin Luther King's Controversial Visit to Seattle: Rev. Samuel B. McKinney Tells the Story". The Daily. 2000-01-06.
^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
^ "American FactFinder". Retrieved March 23, 2018.
^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
^ "Centers of Population by State: 2010". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
^ "Centers of Population by County: 2010". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
^ abc "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
^ "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 – County". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
^ "DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
^ "DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
^ "It's Rossi by 261; recount is next". The Seattle Times. November 18, 2004. Archived from the original on March 23, 2006.
^ Radford, Dean (January 26, 2005). "Proposal would ease creation of new county". King County Journal. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005.
^ Radford, Dean (February 6, 2005). "Calls for new county intensify – Rural rage revives drive to escape Seattle influence". King County Journal. Archived from the original on November 18, 2005.
^ Cascadecounty.org Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Cascade County (GIF)".
^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org.
External links
 | Wikivoyage has a travel guide for King County. |
- King County website
King County Snapshots presents King County, Washington, through 12,000 historical images carefully chosen from twelve cultural heritage organizations' collections. These catalogued 19th and 20th century images portray people, places, and events in the county's urban, suburban, and rural communities.
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King County, Washington
Municipalities and communities of King County, Washington, United States | ||
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County seat: Seattle | ||
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Coordinates: 47°28′N 121°50′W / 47.47°N 121.84°W / 47.47; -121.84
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