And How It All Came About

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Luke McRedmond, from Ireland, and Warren Perrigo, from New England, first met and settled at Port Madison in Kitsap County. Both men wanted to homestead and after some searching, found the area east of what is now Seattle. With its rich soil and plentiful water, they quickly decided this was the place for them. In 1870 and 1871, respectively, the two men filed Homestead Act claims and began clearing their land.

Perrigo built a house that could be used as an Inn and named it Melrose House after his home town in Massachusetts. Early pioneers stayed there while scouting out the area for their homesteads. With his Inn at the center, Perrigo blazed early trails and later roads in every direction. This created a network of connections to neighboring communities in the area. Clever guy that he was, Perrigo, with his centrally located Inn and his connecting road ways, soon became the foremost trader in the region.

McRedmond was more interested in creating a village. His village was originally was named Salmonburg, due to the abundance of dog salmon in the rivers and streams. Later, because of the popularity of the Melrose House, the village was renamed Melrose. In 1882 McRedmond became postmaster and soon after that, officially renamed the village Redmond. Would you be surprised to learn that this decision created bitterness between the two families for years to come? Well, yes it did!

The logging and fishing industries provided jobs for many newcomers, who in turn created a demand for goods and services. With all this increased activity and Perrigo’s booming trading business, the village of Redmond began to grow. A rail road built through the village, in answer to the needs of the lumber industry, further fueled the growth. Life was good in Redmond, lots of trees – jobs for loggers, shake and saw mills – jobs for others, fishing and hunting – jobs for more, farming – jobs for homesteaders.

From Redmond’s neighboring settlement Kirkland, located on the eastern shore of Lake Washington, Seattle was an easy ferry ride or barge haul away for those who had goods to sell to the eager Seattle merchants, trying to provide for Seattle’s ever increasing population.

In 1912, with the population stalled at 299, Redmond was still unable to incorporate and become a proper town. Then someone remembered a baby boy had been born a few weeks earlier to some town folks and had not been counted. Oh, happy day, and it only took the birth of a child to make it possible for Redmond to become an officially incorporated town.

Today, Redmond, Washington, USA is a name known around the world. In 1986 Microsoft moved from its original offices in Bellevue to its new corporate headquarters in Redmond. Nintendo of America also is headquartered in Redmond. Additional well known and not so well known hi-tech companies, along with continuing growth in research and development in electronics, pharmaceuticals, and other fields continue to raise the visibility of Redmond, Washington worldwide.

Redmond has 23 public parks, totaling over 1,000 acres. Many of these are neighborhood parks with picnic areas, covered or uncovered, and sports fields. There are 17 miles of trails for hiking and biking. The Sammamish River trail can be followed all the way to Seattle’s Golden Garden Park on Puget Sound. Every July Redmond hosts the Redmond Bicycle Derby Days. This blowout event is a multi-day affair with non-stop entertainment of all kinds, for all ages.

During the summer there are music events and concerts by local groups, as well as, big name national performers. These events are to be found in city parks and local establishments throughout the city. There are so many of these events, one wonders how to find the time to see them all.

On a year round basics, the performing arts groups have a variety of performances and exhibits for your enjoyment. Redmond certainly has come a long way since it was popularly know as Salmonburg.