KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON

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'King County' is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2000 census was 1,737,034 and in 2006 was an estimated 1,835,300. By population, King is the largest county in Washington, and the 12th largest in the United States. As of 2006, the county had a population comparable to that of the state of Nebraska.
The county seat is Seattle, which is the state's largest city. About two-thirds of the county's population lives in the city's suburbs. King County ranks among the 100 wealthiest counties in the United States.

Contents
History
Government
Politics
Council members
Geography
Geographic features
Major highways
Adjacent counties
Demographics
Census-recognized communities
Other communities
Ghost towns
Schools
References
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 Rufus King, vice president under president Franklin Pierce. Seattle was made the county seat on January 11, 1853.[1][2]
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.[1].
County logo, 1969-2007

On February 24, 1986, the King County Council passed Council Motion 6461, "setting forth the historical basis for the 'renaming' of King County in honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.". Because only the state can charter counties, this change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5332 into law. Due primarily to the advocacy of councilmember Larry Gossett, the County Council voted on February 27, 2006 to change the county's logo from a royal crown to an image of King's face.[3] This change was estimated to cost $522,255. On March 12, 2007, the new logo was unveiled.[4]

Government


The King County Executive, currently Ron Sims, heads the county's executive branch. The King County Council is the legislative branch of government. The King County Prosecutor, currently Dan Satterberg until a replacement is selected for the late Norm Maleng, and the King County Assessor, currently Scott Noble, are also elected executive positions. Judicial power is vested in the King County Superior Court and the King County District Court. The county seat is Seattle, which houses the King County Courthouse.
King County is represented in the United States Congress through the Washington 7th Congressional District and parts of the 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 9th districts. In the state legislature, King contains the entirety of the 5th, 11th, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 36th, 37th, 41st, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th legislative districts as well as parts of the 1st, 25th, 30th, 31st, and 39th districts.

Politics


Western King County, which includes Seattle, is a major center for liberal politics and is a bastion for the Democratic Party. In the 2004 election, John Kerry defeated George W. Bush in the county by 32%, a larger margin than Al Gore had in the 2000 election. King County has also been the deciding 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 razor-thin governor's race, pushing her ahead of suburban Republican Dino Rossi, who led by 42 votes after the initial count. Both candidates were from King County--Rossi from Sammamish, and Gregoire from Auburn.
The suburbs east and south of Seattle historically have tended to vote Republican. In the 2005 County Executive race, Republican David Irons beat Democrat Ron Sims outside of Seattle (which voted 74% for Sims). However, in recent years, the Eastside, as it is called, has seen a significant shift toward the Democrats. In 2004, John Kerry received landslide victories in much of the Bellevue and Redmond area. Generally, the suburbs are more friendly to the Republicans on the state and especially 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.
As of January 2006, all five council districts representing Seattle and its inner suburbs are controlled by Democrats, while all four outer suburban/rural districts are controlled by Republicans.
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'').[2][3] It has recently been revived as Cascade County. According to a map published by the ''Seattle Times''[4], four different geographic borders are being considered. Additional plans (see ''Skykomish County, Washington'') also exist or have existed.

Council members



★ District 1 - Bob Ferguson

★ District 2 - Larry Gossett

★ District 3 - Kathy Lambert

★ District 4 - Larry Phillips

★ District 5 - Julia Patterson

★ District 6 - Jane Hague

★ District 7 - Pete von Reichbauer

★ District 8 - Dow Constantine

★ District 9 - Reagan Dunn

Geography


'King County'
Kingcounty-wa.png

King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 5,974 km² (2,307 mi²). It is the 11th largest county in Washington (of 39) by area. 5,506 km² (2,126 mi²) of it is land and 467 km² (180 mi²) of it is water. 7.82% of the total area is water. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at 2426 meters (7,959 feet) 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


Terrain


Cascade Range


Harbor Island


Issaquah Alps


Maury Island


Mercer Island


Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest


Mount Daniel, the highest point in King County


Mount Si


Vashon Island

Water


Cedar River


Coal Creek


Green/Duwamish River


Elliott Bay


Tolt River


Issaquah Creek


Lake Sammamish


Lake Washington


Puget Sound


Snoqualmie River


White River
Major highways


Interstate 5

Interstate 90

Interstate 405

U.S. Highway 2

State Route 18

State Route 99

State Route 520

State Route 167
Adjacent counties


Snohomish County, Washington - north

Chelan County, Washington - east/northeast

Kittitas County, Washington - east/southeast

Pierce County, Washington - south

Kitsap County, Washington - west

Demographics


As of the census² of 2000, there were 1,737,034 people, 710,916 households, and 420,151 families residing in the county. The population density was 315/km² (817/mi²). There were 742,237 housing units at an average density of 135/km² (349/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 75.73% White, 5.40% Black or African American, 0.92% Native American, 10.81% Asian, 0.52% Pacific Islander, 2.56% from other races, and 4.06% from two or more races. 5.48% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 13.2% were of German, 9.1% English, 8.3% Irish and 5.5% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000. 81.7% spoke English, 4.2% Spanish, 1.8% Chinese or Mandarin, 1.5% Vietnamese, 1.3% Tagalog and 1.0% Korean as their first language.
There were 710,916 households out of which 28.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.40% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.90% were non-families. 30.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the county, the population was spread out with 22.50% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 34.70% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 10.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.30 males.
The center of population of Washington in the year 2000 was located in the city of Enumclaw [5], in King County.
The median income for a household in the county was $53,157, and the median income for a family was $66,035. Males had a median income of $45,802 versus $34,321 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,521. About 5.30% of families and 8.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.40% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.

Census-recognized communities


''See also'' .


Algona

Ames Lake

Auburn (partial)

Baring

Beaux Arts Village

Bellevue

Black Diamond

Bothell (partial)

Bryn Mawr-Skyway

Burien

Carnation

Cascade-Fairwood

Clyde Hill

Cottage Lake

Covington

Des Moines

Duvall

East Hill-Meridian

East Renton Highlands

Eastgate

Enumclaw

Fall City


Federal Way

Hobart

Hunts Point

Inglewood-Finn Hill

Issaquah

Kenmore

Kent

Kingsgate

Kirkland

Lake Forest Park

Lake Marcel-Stillwater

Lake Morton-Berrydale

Lakeland North

Lakeland South

Lea Hill

Maple Heights-Lake Desire

Maple Valley

Medina

Mercer Island

Milton (partial)

Mirrormont

Newcastle


Normandy Park

North Bend

Pacific (partial)

Ravensdale

Redmond

Renton

Riverbend

Riverton-Boulevard Park

Sammamish

SeaTac

Seattle

Shoreline

Skykomish

Snoqualmie

Tanner

Tukwila

Union Hill-Novelty Hill

Vashon

West Lake Sammamish

White Center

Woodinville

Yarrow Point


Other communities


'This list may contain communities located entirely within incorporated cities, towns, or CDPs, which should be removed.'


Adelaide

Alpental

Ames Lake

Avondale

Bitter Lake

Burton

Cedar Falls

Coal Creek

Crystal Mountain

Cumberland

Denny Creek

Dockton

Duwamish

Earlmount

East Union

Eastgate

Ernie's Grove

Fort Lawton

Four Corners

Garcia


Greenwood

Grotto

Hazelwood

Houghton

Juanita

Kanaskat

Kangley

Kennydale

Klahanie

Krain

Lake Alice

Lake City

Lake Joy

Lake Sawyer

McMicken Heights

Midway

Morganville

Newport Hills

North City

Osceola


Palmer

Portage

Preston

Queensgate

Queen Anne

Ravensdale

Redondo

Redondo Beach

Richmond Beach

Richmond Highlands

Scenic

Shorewood

Spring Glen

Tahlequah

Totem Lake

Wabash

Wilderness Village

Woodmont Beach


Ghost towns



Hot Springs

Lester

Nagrom

Tye

Wellington

Weston

Schools



Bellevue School District

Federal Way School District

Highline School District

Issaquah School District

Kent School District

Lake Washington School District

Mercer Island School District

Northshore School District

Renton School District

Seattle School District

Shoreline School District

Snoqualmie School District

Tahoma School District

Tukwila School District

References


1. Bill Speidel, ''Doc Maynard, The Man Who Invented Seattle'' (Seattle: Nettle Creek Publishing Co., 1978) (ISBN 0-914890-02-6).
2. King County Journal: Proposal would ease creation of new county
3. King County Journal: Calls for new county intensify - Rural rage revives drive to escape Seattle influence
4. Cascade County (GIF)

External links



King County government Web site

King County Property Parcel Viewer

King County Snapshots presents King County, Washington, through 12,000 historical images carefully chosen from twelve cultural heritage organizations' collections. These cataloged 19th and 20th century images portray people, places, and events in the county's urban, suburban, and rural communities.

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