Medina City

King County, Washington

   

Medina City Hall is located at 501 Evergreen Point Road, Medina, WA 98039.
Phone: 425‑233‑6400.

Neighborhoods

Beginnings [1]

Medina was originally a collection of farms and orchards on the shore of Lake Washington across from Seattle. During the late 1880s, wealthy land-owners began purchasing waterfront land from the homesteaders. By the 1890s these lands had been converted into broad lakefront estates. In 1913 the Medina ferry terminal was constructed, and in 1914 the town was formally platted. Medina grew slowly until 1941, when the first floating bridge was constructed. With the increased accessibility to Seattle, more people began to settle permanently on the east side of the lake, and the residents of Medina began to feel the pressures of growth.

Plans for a second floating bridge that would have the east terminus in Medina and bring the town within minutes of Seattle's population caused residents to begin considering incorporation. Three alternatives were debated over several years: incorporation with Bellevue, incorporation with the other "Points" communities, and separate incorporation. Residents voted to incorporate separately in July 1955, and in August 1955 Medina officially became a city of 1,525 people. In 1964 a perimeter portion of Medina Heights was annexed to the City, with the remainder of this neighborhood added in 1967. From 1959 to 1971 Medina acquired and developed Fairweather Nature Preserve, Medina Park, and Medina Beach Park. Another seven residential parcels located on the east side of Lake Washington Boulevard adjacent to Clyde Hill were annexed in 1987. With these acquisitions, the land use pattern and mix was established.

Medina occupies a large peninsula projecting into the central portion of Lake Washington on the lake's east shore. The lake separates Medina from Seattle, with the SR 520 floating bridge, which enters Medina at the base of Evergreen Point, bringing Seattle's downtown to within nine miles of Medina. Medina is bordered on the northeast by the Town of Hunts Point and on the east by the City of Clyde Hill, both single-family residential communities. On the southeast, Medina is bordered by a relatively low-density, single-family residential section of the City of Bellevue. The downtown commercial center of Bellevue has grown rapidly and is approximately one and one-half miles to the east. More industrial sections of Bellevue are located near Interstate 405, which runs north-south, intersecting SR 520 approximately three miles to the east of Medina.

  1. City of Medina, Comprehensive Plan, 1994, 1999, and 2005 www.medina-wa.gov, accessed September, 2011.

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