Kenmore

Kenmore, occasionally known as \"Kenmore by the Lake,\" is a city in the United States located on the northernmost shores of Lake Washington in King County, Washington. more...

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Prominent features include several waterside parks, the nation's largest seaplane-only commercial air facility, Bastyr University, easy access to the Burke-Gilman Trail and the King County bike-trail system, and other features of local historical interest such as the former St. Edward Seminary, now Saint Edward State Park. Kenmore's official city flower is the dahlia, the official city bird is the great blue heron, and the official city evergreen is the rhododendron. The population was 18,678 at the 2000 census.

History

Founded in 1901, Kenmore's name comes third-hand from the Scottish village of Kenmore, via town founder John McMasters' home town of Kenmore, Ontario. John and his wife Anne arrived in Puget Sound circa 1889 from Canada, intending to establish themselves in the shingle-making trade, eventually opening their own shingle mill on the northern shore of Lake Washington on land leased from Watson Squire. By 1903, Kenmore had established a school system and post office , but did not formally incorporate as a city until August 31, 1998.

Despite cargo railway service passing through the area as early as 1887 via the Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern Railroad, most access to the city in its early days was by boat, with regular ferry service to Seattle, Bothell, and Woodinville starting in 1906. The city later gained a passenger railroad stop. The first improved road connection to Seattle and Bothell—the Red Brick Road—opened between 1913 and 1914, with bus service following the laying of the bricks.

During Prohibition, Kenmore became locally famous in Seattle for country dining and, probably more importantly, country drinking, as a substantial illegal alcohol industry developed to meet the demands of Seattle nightlife. Being located on Bothell Way—one of the few improved roads then heading north from Seattle—it was nonetheless far enough out that Department of Revenue officers could, for the most part, safely ignore it.

The Blind Pig, a roadhouse on Shuter's Landing onto Lake Washington, was probably the most famous of the Kenmore speakeasys. Being lakeside, its illegal hooch could be dumped into the lake quickly and easily should it become necessary. However, despite its notoriety, the Pig was not the city's most infamous saloon; routine violent fist-fights at Inglewood Tavern earned that establishment an alternative name: The Bucket of Blood. This archipelago of dining and entertainment that evolved in the city - over 30 different restaurants, dance halls, bars, and clubs in a three-block area - remained a major part of Kenmore's identity through the 1940s.

Once the Great Depression hit the nation, Kenmore became home for a small settlement of workers under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Back to the Land program. Paid by the Works Progress Administration, a small number of workers settled in an area of northwestern Kenmore which became known as \"Voucherville,\" after the vouchers the WPA paid in lieu of a cash salary.

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