Timeline: History of Sammamish
13,000+ years
Native American people, including the Duwamish and Snoqualmie tribes, inhabit the shores of Lake Sammamish. Salmon from the lake and the Western Red Cedar trees that surrounded it are key resources.
Image credit: Jessica Newley
Early 1800s
White settlers arrive; logging and agriculture are the dominant industries.
Image via the Issaquah Historical Society
1855
The Snoqualmie and Duwamish are among the many tribes to sign The Treaty of Point Elliot, which ceded many tribal lands, promised reservation lands, and guaranteed rights to continue hunting and fishing on tribal lands. The treaty also recognized the Snoqualmie Tribe, then one of the largest tribes in the region at 4000 people. Treaty promises were ultimately not upheld and tribes continue to advocate for it to this day.
Image via Tulalip News
1863
Under the 1863 Homestead Act, tribes are permitted to homestead if they adopted the settlers way of life. Many Snoqualmie families remain on the eastern shore of Lake Sammamish, working at the lumber mills or hop farms that had been erected on their lands, with about 7 homesteads remaining by the turn of the century.
Image via the Eastside Heritage Center
1877
Martin Monohon settles on the plateau, making him potentially the area's first permanent, nonnative settler. He maintains a ferry landing at the lake and petitions to build one of the first roads up to plateau, which became known as Monohon Hill Road. A neighborhood grows around his settle that is called Monohon before becoming part of Sammamish.
Image via the Sammamish Heritage Society
1889
The Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad Company completes a track along the eastern shore of Lake Sammamish.
Image via UW Special Collections
Early 1900s
Loggers switch from harvesting Douglas fir to Western Red Cedar; on Weber Point, two cedar mills produce shingles for roofs using the species.
Image via UW Special Collections
1930s
Four resorts are established in Sammamish, attracting local settlers and visitors from Seattle to enjoy the small lakes and surrounding forest.
Image via the Sammamish Heritage Society
1970s
The opening of Sahelee Golf Course spurs the northward extension of 228th NE; Sahalee Way opens in 1979, helping pave the way for development of the plateau's northern end, including the first modern school.
Image via the Issaquah Historical Society
1997
After a long difficult struggle, the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe regains Federal Recognition, which had been lost via the federal policy of Indian Termination in the 1940s.
Image via Tulalip News
August 31, 1999
The City of Sammamish is formally incorporated, following approval by voters in 1998.
2013
Sammamish is recognized as one of the “top booming suburbs” in the country
January 1, 2016
The City annexes Klahanie.