King County, Washington

King County, Washington
King County Courthouse
Flag Logo
Location in the U.S. state of Washington
Washington's location in 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.)
• (2016)	2,149,970
• Density	983/sq mi (380/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. As of the 2015 estimate, its population was 2,052,800.^[1] King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle,^[2] 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 the city's suburbs. As of 2011, King County was the 86th highest-income county in the United States.

Etymology

The county was originally named after William Rufus King who was Vice President when the Washington Territory was created in 1853. In 1986, a motion was introduced to change the namesake to Martin Luther King Jr.^[3] No public votes or hearings were taken on the change.^[4]

On February 24, 1986, the King County Council passed Council Motion 6461 five votes to four setting forth the historical basis for the renaming of King County in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.^[5] Because only the state can charter counties, this change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when the Governor signed Senate Bill 5332 into law.

The County Council submitted a vote to the public on February 27, 2006 to change the county's logo from a royal crown to an image of King.^[6] On March 12, 2007, the new logo was unveiled.^[7]

Martin Luther King Jr. visited King County for two days in November 1961.^[8]

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.^[9][10]

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.^[11]

On February 24, 1986, the King County Council passed Motion 6461 renaming King County to commemorate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968), the civil rights leader, rather than William Rufus King, for whom the county was named in 1852. The stated reason for the change was the revelation that “William Rufus DeVane King was a slaveowner and a ‘gentle slave monger’ according to John Quincy Adams.”^[12]

Geography

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.^[13] King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at 2,426 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

Water

Major highways

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. 2016	2,149,970	[14]	11.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[15] 1790–1960[16] 1900–1990[17] 1990–2000[18] 2010–2016[1]

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)).^[19] 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)).^[20]

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.^[21] 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).^[22] 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.^[21] 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.^[23]

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.^[21]

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.^[24]

Government

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 John Urquhart), 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.

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; 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

Politics

Presidential Elections Results^[25]

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

King County, which includes Seattle, is a major center for liberal politics and is a bastion for the Democratic Party. 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 the population in the State of Washington 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.^[26] 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).^[27][28] It has recently been revived as Cascade County.^[29] According to a map published by the Seattle Times,^[30] four different geographic borders are being considered. Additional plans (see Skykomish County, Washington) also exist or have existed.

Education

K–12 schools

Public libraries

Most of King County is served by the King County Library System. The Seattle Library serves the City of Seattle.

Communities

Cities

Towns

• Beaux Arts Village
• Hunts Point
• Skykomish
• Yarrow Point

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities

Former towns

• East Redmond

Ghost towns

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in King County, Washington

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for King County.

• King County website
• King County Archives
• King County Sheriff
• 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 catalogued 19th and 20th century images portray people, places, and events in the county's urban, suburban, and rural communities.

Coordinates: 47°28′N 121°50′W / 47.47°N 121.84°W / 47.47; -121.84