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Redmond History: 1971-1980

Updated: Aug 4, 2020

  • 1971  Elise Farrel-McWhirter dies, and bequeaths property to the City for a park (Hardy Timeline II 7)

  • The King County Urban Trails Plan identifies the stretch of rail bed between Redmond and Issaquah as a future regional trail link.  Due to local opposition and litigation, it will be 2005 before the county obtains a final permit to clear and grade the East Lake  Sammamish Trail  (Hardy Timeline II 7)

  • 2/ The new City Hall is completed near the Sammamish River and 85th Street (Hardy Timeline II 7) 

  • 3/13 Rotary Club is chartered in Redmond, and is sponsored by the Kirkland Rotarians 

  • 7/22 Senators Henry Jackson and Warren Magnuson announce the Department of the Interior has approved a grant of $10,000 to help preserve the Marymoor Prehistoric Indian site (Hardy Timeline II 7)  

  • 7/28 The Forward Thrust swimming pool on NE 104th Street opens officially with county and  city officials in attendance  (Hardy Timeline II 7)  

  • 10/5 The City passes City Resolution #25 to accept the 70-acre parcel of land donated from  Elise Farrel-McWhirter who has recently died.  The property, originally the Hutcheson  Homestead, becomes Farrel-McWhirter Park  (Hardy Timeline II 7)

  • 1972 Friendly Village, a mobile home park, opens on the east side of Avondale Road

  • Kwuntung Country, Redmond’s first Chinese restaurant opens at 8075 161st Avenue NE 

  • Redmond voters approve a $300,000 bond issue to build a new library  (Hardy Timeline II 7)

  • 4/26 A fire at Redmond Junior High caused by light bulbs resting directly against acoustical  tile causes $50,000 in damages  (Hardy Timeline II 7) 

  • 5/ The Redmond Chamber of Commerce purchases the Nokomis Clubhouse and Library at 16210 NE 80th Street  (Nokomis Archives)

  • 5/27 Police Officer Johnny Brimsby is shot on Novelty Hill Road by a Duvall bank robber in  the first shooting of a Redmond officer while on duty   (Hardy Timeline II 7) 

  • 8/ The Redmond Way bridge over the Sammamish River reopens ending a long detour and loss of business for the town  (Hardy Timeline II 7) 

  • 9/6 The Friends of the Redmond Library is created at a joint meeting of the City Council and Redmond Library Board of Trustees.  Richard and Helen Johnston are elected the  group’s first co-chairmen  (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • 1973 Eddie Bauer moves its headquarters to the Overlake area of Redmond  (Way 166) 

  • 1/23 The lives of three young men from Redmond are claimed in the Vietnam War:  Leonard Wade Roberson (194-1967), Alvin R Hoover III (1946-1968), Glenn Dean Taylor   (1941-1968). 

  • President Nixon announces the end of the war  (Hardy Timeline II 8)   

  • 8/ Fire destroys Redmond Montessori school buildings  (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • Landvatter chicken farm on Union Hill goes out of business  (Way 118)

  • 1974 Physio Control moves its operations from Seattle to Redmond’s Willows Road  (Way 167)

  • US Army mothballs Nike Missile Sites:  the command post on Education Hill and the  Missile launch site on Union Hill   (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • 4/ An accident at the annual Slough Race on the Sammamish River occurs when a racing boat  driven by Willie Shoemaker leaves the water and injures a spectator.  Because of the     accident, the event lost its insurance coverage, and becomes the last Slough Race   (Hardy Timeline II 8) 

  • 6/20 King County breaks ground for the Velodrome in Marymoor Park. which  is built  for $200,000  (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • 7/ Recall charges are filed against Redmond City Councilman Sid Hulo  (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • 7/ Seizure of eight pounds of cocaine occurs at O’Brien Water Ski Company  (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • 8/ One charge against Sid Hulo is upheld which warrants a recall  (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • Charges are brought against Mayor Young  (Hardy Timeline II )

  • 9/23 A minimum of 50 donors are urgently needed for blood donations. 

  • The Bloodmobile is at  Faith Lutheran Church for collections   (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • 1975 9/12 The seal which has been living in Lake Sammamish since 1952 is captured by the State Department of Wildlife in response to residents who charge the animal with suddenly  becoming aggressive.  The 25-year-old seal died of a heart attack from sedation before it could be transported to Puget Sound.  Six bullets are discovered in its body   (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • 9/14 The new Redmond Library is dedicated in a formal ceremony.  It is a 13,000 square foot  building on the southeast side of City Campus on NE 85th Street.  This is the sixth  building the library has occupied   (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • 1976 Georgia Erskine starts Redmond’s Saturday market  (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • Christine Himes and Dorothy White Hanscom help the City of Redmond Bicentennial celebration to create a walking tour brochure (Hardy Timeline II 8)

  • City Well #4 is sunk on the city campus, and is de-commissioned in 1986 then rebuilt in  2002  (Hardy Timeline II 9) 

  • 6/19 The Saturday market is held for the first time in Redmond  (Hardy Timeline II 9)

  • 1977 Group Health Hospital opens in Overlake  (Hardy Timeline II 9) 

  • Leary Way bridge over the Sammamish River is completed linking SR 520 to Redmond-Fall City Road.  The link between the bridge and 148th Ave NE is still missing    (Hardy Timeline II 9)

  • 1978 US Census Bureau pronounces Redmond the fastest growing city in the state Chamber of Commerce erects a sign at the city’s west entrance proclaiming Redmond  to be the “Bicycle Capital of  the World”  (Hardy Timeline II 9)

  • 1980 US Census says Redmond’s population is 23,318

  • Christine Himes becomes the city’s first full-time mayor and first female mayor  (Hardy Timeline II 9)

  • Gail Marsh becomes Redmond’s first female police officer.  Over the next two decades she  rises to become the first female detective, sergeant, lieutenant, and commander in the department and earns numerous accolades and awards.  As a young officer, at her suggestion, the department creates the first juvenile detective position in 1984 and assigns her to the position.  She is instrumental in proposing and launching the department’s Hostage Negotiations Team, the Redmond Police Citizens Academy, the  Redmond Citizen’s Community Policing Advisory Board, and the department’s volunteer program.  She twice leads the department’s re-accreditation program for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies  (Hardy Timeline II 9)

  • Truck farmers, Frances and Juan de los Angeles, famous for their delectable lettuce, close their farm  (Way 123)

  • 5/18 Mount St. Helens erupts at 8:32AM Sunday morning, and Redmond neighborhoods empty into the streets.  As people look toward the southeast, they witness the massive clouds  of smoke and ash.  

  • 1980s  Bike Derby races become criterium races with corporate sponsorship  (Way 130)

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