The construction of the first bridge across Lake Washington in 1939 was instrumental in changing Bellevue from a farming community into a bustling suburb. Their annual Strawberry Festival was always a big success, both for selling produce and for luring new residents who wanted to live in a country environment, yet still be able to commute to their Seattle jobs. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Bellevue maintained its rural lifestyle. The few who remained lost much of their land during World War II, when local Japanese were forced into internment camps for the duration of the war. Many early farmers were Japanese, but anti-alien legislation in the 1920s prohibited most of them from leasing land, and many moved away. Still, the most productive industry in the community was farming. Storing his whaling ships in Meydenbauer Bay during the off season was both convenient and beneficial the fresh water of the lake helped kill off the barnacles and worms that damaged most salt-water vessels. This brought new business to Bellevue when local resident William Schupp, head of the American Pacific Whaling Fleet, decided to move his corporate headquarters to Bellevue. In 1917, the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal permitted access to Puget Sound. The logs were hauled overland and floated down Mercer Slough.Īccess to Seattle from Bellevue was by ferryboat. Some of the growth was due to the Hewitt Lumber Company of Tacoma, which employed hundreds of men to log timber from Wilburton (located on the 1999 Bellevue site of 116th Avenue SE and SE 8th Street) west to Lake Sammamish and south to Kennydale. The project never completely panned out yet some of the houses built during this time remain standing today.īy 1910 the populations had grown to nearly 1,500. Plans were in the works for studios and instruction in such fields as sculpting, ironwork, weaving, and photography. The Beaux Arts community, to the south, was formed in 1908 as an artists' colony. The Medina neighborhood along the shores of the lake had been known as the Gold Coast since the 1890s, when landowners bought farmland and converted it into sprawling estates. By this time it was the center for berry growing in King County, and was also a retreat for many wealthy Seattle families. 100 persons living in Killarney (approximately Southeast 25th Street of present-day Bellevue).īellevue was platted in 1904.200 persons living in Medina, The Points (Hunts Point and Yarrow Point), and Clyde Hill.
These residents lived in the following areas:
The 1900 census counted 400 persons in Bellevue. Since Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French, he found the name to be just as applicable for his new home, which had sweeping vistas of Lake Washington to the west and the Cascade mountains to the east. Sharpe, who had moved to the area with his brothers from Bellevue, Indiana. The first postmaster in the area was Mathew S. The growing community also had a school and a few businesses. Other settlers followed, and by 1890 a sawmill, shingle mills, and farms dotted the area. For the next few years he and sons logged and cleared the land. bought land near the present downtown area. Once their land became profitable, they sold their claims and moved on, leaving only their names. South of Meydenbauer Bay, Mercer farmed along what is now known as the Mercer Slough. Meydenbauer, a Seattle baker, settled alongside the sheltered bay which now bears his name. The first homesteaders in the Bellevue area were William Meydenbauer (1832-1906) and Aaron Mercer (1824-1902), who both arrived in 1869. Although it didn't incorporate until 1953 and has experienced most of its rapid growth since then, its history goes back many decades, as a farming center, inland port, and milling center. The City of Bellevue is a modern, metropolitan community dotted with skyscrapers.
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