Renton Washington History & Facts

Renton is a city in King County, Washington, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated 11 miles (18 km) southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 2020 census, the population of Renton was 106,785, up from 90,927 at the 2010 census. The city is currently the sixth-largest municipality in greater Seattle and the eighth-largest in Washington state.

After a long history as an important salmon fishing area for Native Americans, Renton was first settled by people of European descent in the 1860s. Its early economy was based on coal mining, clay production, and timber export. Today, Renton is best known as the final assembly point for the Boeing 737 family of commercial airplanes, but it is also home to a growing number of well known manufacturing, technology, and healthcare organizations, including Boeing Commercial Airplanes Division, Paccar, Kaiser Permanente, IKEA, Providence Health & Services, UW Medicine, and Wizards of the Coast.

Long a cultural center for the Duwamish, European settlers arrived in the present-day Renton area in the 1870s. First among them were Henry Tobin and his wife Diana. The town of Renton was accessed via the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, the first railroad to be built to Seattle, and was in the vicinity of several coal mines that attracted entrepreneurs like Erasmus M. Smithers, who is credited with the founding and establishment of the town in 1875. Smithers named Renton in honor of Captain William Renton, a local lumber and shipping merchant who invested heavily in the coal trade. Smithers discovered coal there and brought in Charles D. Shattuck as the coal mine operator.

Renton was incorporated as a city on September 6, 1901, when coal mining and timber processing were the most important economic industries in the area. The town was prone to flooding from the Cedar River and Black River. In 1916 the completion of the Lake Washington Ship Canal lowered the surface of Lake Washington by several feet which consequently eliminated drainage of Lake Washington through the Black River (in favor of the Ship Canal). The Cedar River was then diverted to drain into Lake Washington instead of into the Black River. As a result, the Black River largely disappeared, leaving only a few remnants. The culmination of these actions reduced the threat of annual flooding.

The population sharply increased during World War II when Boeing built their Renton Factory to produce the B-29 Superfortress. Renton grew from a population of 4,488 in 1940 to 16,039 in 1950.

The game company Wizards of the Coast also is headquartered in Renton. Providence Health System has centralized its administrative offices in Renton, along with Group Health Cooperative.

Famous Peoples From Renton Washington

Emily Rose
Emily Rose (born February 2, 1981) is an American actress. She is best known for her role in the critically acclaimed Uncharted video game series as Elena Fisher and for her lead role as Audrey Parker in the Syfy series Haven (2010–2015).

Born in Renton, Washington, Rose received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from UCLA in 2006. She also graduated from Vanguard University of Southern California with a degree in Theater Arts. She is the oldest of three children (she has a younger sister and brother) and is aunt to two nephews and a niece.

Rose appeared in the unaired fourth episode of the American television show Smith, and starred as Cass in the HBO drama John from Cincinnati. She played Lena Branigan on Brothers & Sisters. She portrayed Trish Merrick, an employee of Jennings and Rall, on the CBS drama Jericho.

Rose performed voice acting and motion capture for the 2007 PlayStation 3 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune as the main female character Elena Fisher, then reprised the role in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in 2009, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception in 2011 and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in 2016. Rose played Dr. Tracy Martin in the final season of ER and guest-starred on the January 12, 2009, episode of Two and a Half Men.

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