Welcome to Kenmore
                     ... by the Lake

Our History

Dygert/Telquist garage
Al Telquist (right) operated Kenmore's first auto-repair garage, at 65th Avenue NE and Bothell Way, beginning in 1922 with his father-in-law Dan Dygert. The large sign above the door reads "Kenmore Garage, Shell Gasoline, Day and Night Service." (Man at left is unidentified).
*Photo courtesy of the Telquist family and provided by Kenmore Heritage Society

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Kenmore was named by John McMasters. He and his wife, Annie, were originally from the small town of Kenmore, Canada - 40 miles south of Ottawa. They arrived in Puget Sound in 1889 and leased land at Kenmore from Squire and named the area after his old home town. He took over a mill started by Fir Lumber in 1903 and at first was partnered with Chris Kruse, but bought him out in 1905. At first Kenmore was only the mill, its cookhouse, manager’s house, bunkhouse and a few worker shacks. The mill was just at the edge of Lake Washington, where logs were floated to the area to be made into shingles for roofs and the sides of houses. The mill employed 35 - 40 men and stood east of the present Premix plant on the flat land beside the river. The mill burned down in 1923 and John McMaster’s died in 1930.

Nite & Day Market
Founded in 1946, the Nite & Day Market continues serving the motoring public from its site at 6233 Bothell Way overlooking Lake Washington.
*Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch and provided by Kenmore Heritage Society

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Sportsmen enjoyed hunting in the area of the marsh at the mouth of the Sammamish and a boathouse and resort house accommodated the at Peterson’s Landing, near the present highway bridge. There was a houseboat hotel with a saloon and floats for mooring. In fact, there were duck clubs up the river, usually small cabins owned by small groups of well-to-do citizens from Kirkland. Because of the loggers, sportsmen and saloons, weekends were known to be rowdy and busy. There were places like the 'Bucket of Blood' which existed at the location of the present Tradewell Store, which existed as late as 1940. 'The Blind Pig' was only accessible to boats and got its name because during the Prohibition it was easy to dump evidence in the water in case of a raid.

The Red Brick Highway, which was first called Squire Boulevard in Kenmore, then became Bothell Brick Road, opened in 1913 and stimulated growth in Kenmore.

Victory Drive Inn
Hungry customers received curb service at Kenmore's first drive-in restaurant, called Ingram's Drive Inn and later Victory Inn as a tribute to the World War II effort. Les and Mary Ogle took over the restaurant in 1942 on Bothell Way just west of 68th NE.

After the end of the first World War, the Puget Mill Company (Pope & Talbot) offered small tracts of land. Homes were built north of the highway and between the main intersection and Swamp Creek. Progression of the Moorlands also started about the same time, especially after a bridge was built across the river about 1918. The Mitchell family built a store in 1919 at the Kenmore crossroads and the first service station went in the following year.

Kenmore had its own school district for many years and built its first school in 1914, then in 1916 consolidated with Bothell. The children were picked up in a milk truck, with benches put in every morning and again in the afternoon. It wasn’t until 1920 that the school obtained a real school bus. The original school faced what is now NE 181^st Street, then it was used by the Kenmore Community Club from 1925 until 1930.

During the second half of the 20th Century, the population of Kenmore grew quickly. On August, 31, 1998 it was incorporated, making it the newest city in King County.