Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 13,069 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King (Cottage Lake) and Snohomish (Maltby) counties. Woodinville has waterfront parks on the Sammamish River, sweeping winery and brewery grounds, and densely wooded areas.
History
Prior to European-American settlement, the Woodinville area was inhabited by the native Sammamish people. Indigenous peoples had occupied the area for thousands of years.
In 1871, Ira Woodin and his wife Susan moved from Seattle and traveled up the Sammamish River where they built a cabin. They planned to log timber and farm cattle. A town gradually developed around them. Their cabin served as its first school and post office, with Susan Woodin appointed as postmaster. Woodin and his son-in-law Thomas Sanders set up the first general store.
Like other nearby towns, Woodinville began as a logging community and became a farming center in the early decades of the 20th century. After World War II, it developed as a suburb of Seattle. In 1969, rock bands including Led Zeppelin and The Guess Who performed at the Seattle Pop Festival at Woodinville's Gold Creek Park.
The growth of Bothell in the early 1990s led to plans for it to annex Woodinville; the residents of Woodinville responded by voting for incorporation in 1992. Woodinville was officially incorporated on March 31, 1993.
In the late 1990s, Woodinville attempted to annex the adjacent community of Grace in Snohomish County. The county's government and the State Boundary Review Board rejected the proposal, citing the loss of tax revenue and legal issues with providing policing due to Woodinville's contracts with the King County Sheriff's Office. The area was also considered for a branch campus of the University of Washington that was ultimately built in Bothell.
Geography
Woodinville is located east of Bothell and northeast of Kirkland in northern King County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
The United States Postal Service identifies those homes in the 98072 and 98077 zip codes as being within Woodinville, though those zip codes exceed the city limits of Woodinville. The 98072 zip code extends north into unincorporated Snohomish County and east of the city limits. The 98077 zip code falls entirely outside the city limits of Woodinville to the east, though the postal service still identifies it as Woodinville, WA.
Transportation
The Woodinville Subdivision, a spur railroad operated by BNSF Railway, was used for freight and occasional passenger use until it was decommissioned in 2008. The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, serving the Columbia Winery, ran until July 31, 2007. The railroad was acquired by the Port of Seattle in 2009 and sold to various local governments for use as a regional pedestrian and cyclist trail, known as the Eastside Rail Corridor or Eastrail. The corridor was also proposed for use by a commuter rail service to connect Woodinville to Bellevue and other Eastside destinations, but was determined to be too costly.
The Woodinville Park and Ride is in Downtown Woodinville off 140th Ave NE. It is served by both Sound Transit and King County Metro Transit.
Government and Police
Woodinville contracts with the King County Sheriff's Office for law enforcement services. Deputies assigned to Woodinville wear city uniforms and drive patrol cars marked with the city logo. There are currently 9 patrol officers, one school resource officer, one sergeant and one chief assigned full-time to the city.