South End

Algona/Pacific:
Algona and Pacific, tucked at the southern edge of King County, owe their beginnings to a late-19th century real estate salesman named Clarence Dayton Hillman. Read more

Auburn:
Auburn has gone from home of the "Slaughter House" to become the "loveliest village of the plain." Auburn is actually located in something rather unlike a plain, with hills all around it and a river plowing through it. The area is a perfect fertile valley for farmers. Read more

Black Diamond:
Black Diamond got its name long ago because of the abundance of the ebony-colored coal and because of the company that helped establish its economy -- The Black Diamond Coal Mining Co. Read more

Bonney Lake/Sumner:
Although these two once-rural Pierce County towns are now home to increasing numbers of subdivisions and malls, much of the area retains a small-town flavor. Read more

Covington:
What started out as a railroad stop later became the city of Covington. Read more

Des Monies:
The "Waterland" City gets its name (and the pronunciation thereof) from the more-well-known Iowa town. Read more

Enumclaw:
Enumclaw is about 45 miles southeast of Seattle, in the foothills of Mount Rainier, which looms the northeast. Read more

Federal Way:
Federal Way was eyed for its logging potential in the late 1800s, but the community developed slowly. It was not until the early 1950s that the city's Chamber of Commerce officially accepted the community's name. Read more

Kent:
Kent's setting in the Green River Valley 18 miles south of Seattle offers clear-day views of Mount Rainier rising majestically over the landscape, and the Cascade and Olympic mountains on the horizons. Read more

Maple Valley:
Maple Valley, once a woodsy lakeside resort for city dwellers fleeing urban life, has grown into a small city that completely encircles Lake Wilderness and two other lakes southeast of Seattle. Read more

Normandy Park:
The year was 1853, just months after Seattle became a city, when a Swedish immigrant rowed a small boat up the coast north of the Puyallup River in search of land to farm. Read more

Puyallup:
Puyallup, in eastern Pierce County, mixes residential areas with agriculture and light industry. Read more

SeaTac:
No wonder SeaTac calls itself "The Hospitality City." Home to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, it's full of shuttle parking lots, hotels and rental cars. Read more

Tacoma:
Known as the "City of Destiny," Tacoma was designated as the Northern Pacific Railroad's western terminus for its transcontinental route in 1873. Founded in 1869, the had a population of 5,000 by 1884. Read more

Tukwila:
With Tukwila's dining, golf courses and shopping center, no one would suspect that it all came to be because of hazelnuts. Read more