A mild climate and easy access to recreation on Puget Sound are both big draws to Shoreline. Here you will find numerous saltwater and freshwater beaches, as well as parks and playgrounds. The Shoreline Historical Museum, located in the old Ronald School, exhibits a number of photos and artifacts depicting Shoreline's history.
This area was deeply forested before the turn of the century, providing rich fishing and hunting for the local Native Americans. Homesteaders arrived following the settlement of Seattle in the 1870s, and the present-day Richmond Beach neighborhood was the site of the first village in the area. Located on the new railroad running along Puget Sound, Shoreline gained its modern identity around 1889. Aurora (Highway 99) served as the emerging center of commerce and by the 1920s was home to numerous businesses. Following World War II, the Shoreline area experienced tremendous growth as the suburban lifestyle grew in popularity. Shoreline's natural beauty, abundant resources and location - within reach of Seattle, yet far enough away to be considered semi-rural - were recognized by the first people to live in the area. Those same characteristics continue to describe Shoreline today. Early accounts of Shoreline tell how Native Americans traveled along the shores of Puget Sound and local streams collecting swordfern and kinnikinic at Richmond Beach, and wild cranberries at what are now Ronald Bog and Twin Ponds parks. During the early twentieth century, Shoreline was divided into large developments due to the arrival of the many people drawn by its rural yet accessible location. Commercial centers formed around the Interurban stops at Ronald (175th and Aurora) and Richmond Highlands (185th and Aurora). Car travel had broadened the settlement pattern considerably by the mid-1920s. Although large tracts of land had been divided into smaller lots in the 1910s in anticipation of future development, houses were still scattered. The Great Depression and World War II (1930-1945) slowed the pace of housing development. During the Depression, many Shoreline families eked out a living on land they had purchased in better times. By the late 1930s, commercial development concentrated along Aurora, which saw steadily increasing use as part of the region's primary North-South travel route - U.S. Highway 99. With the end of the war came a tremendous demand for family housing. The late 1940s saw large housing developments spring up seemingly overnight. Schools ran on double shifts as families with young children moved into the new homes. In the late 1940s, business leaders and residents began to see Shoreline as a unified region rather than scattered settlements concentrated at Interurban stops and railroad accesses. The housing stock in Richmond Beach was built beginning in the late 1950s and continuing until the present, with the bulk of the activity happening during the late 1960s. The housing styles include ramblers, ramblers with daylight basements, splits, tri-levels, multi-levels and large family homes. There are also houses with water views or in proximity to water views. You will find that lots are bigger here than in Seattle and, in general, a better buy for your money than the metropolitan neighborhoods. In 1944, the name "Shoreline" was used for the first time to describe the school district. Coined by a student at the Lake City Elementary School, it defined a community that went from city line to county line and from the shore of Puget Sound to the shore of Lake Washington. With such schools as Shoreline Community College, this area is recognized nationally for its educational programs. Among its first rate public schools are two high schools, two middle schools, and eleven elementary schools; besides these, Shoreline boasts several excellent private schools. |