Best Web Design in Federal Way, WA (2026)

Web Design for Federal Way, Washington

Federal Way, a King County city between Seattle and Tacoma, takes its unusual name from old Federal Highway 99, the U.S. route that once linked the two cities and gave a consolidating 1929 school district its identity. Long a logging and berry-farming settlement, it became the global headquarters town of timber giant Weyerhaeuser before incorporating as a city in 1990. Today it is one of Washington's most diverse cities, with large Korean-American and Pacific Islander communities and attractions from a theme park to a world-class bonsai collection.

AppWT works with Federal Way, WA businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Federal Way

Also known as. Centered on Opportunity (the city's official slogan). (name derived from 'Federal' Highway 99, the federally designated route linking Seattle and Tacoma).

History. The area began in the late 1800s as a logging settlement; the first homestead was established in 1871 by Sam Stone near modern-day Redondo. The name 'Federal Way' was first used in 1929, when five existing schools consolidated into School District #210, taking their name from the federally designated U.S. Route 99 (Pacific Highway) that ran through the community. Weyerhaeuser opened its headquarters campus on the east side of Interstate 5 in 1971, and residential growth housed many Boeing engineers and Weyerhaeuser executives. Voters approved incorporation as a city on February 28, 1990, with the official incorporation ceremony held at the Sportsworld Lanes bowling complex.

Local economy. The founding industry was logging, feeding sawmills that produced railroad ties and lumber for the growing Seattle and Tacoma; cleared land later supported berry, fruit, and vegetable farms. Weyerhaeuser, the world's largest private owner of softwood timberland, was headquartered in Federal Way until it moved to Seattle in 2016 and sold its campus in 2016 to Industrial Realty Group, which renamed it Woodbridge Corporate Park. Retail, health care, and services anchor the modern economy, with a Korean-American business community that has made the city a notable Korean dining and retail hub south of Seattle. Tourism and recreation draw on Wild Waves Theme & Water Park and nearby state parks.

Culture and community. Federal Way is one of Washington's most culturally diverse cities, with a strong Korean-American community and one of the region's best Korean food scenes outside Seattle. It hosts a sizable Pacific Islander (including Marshallese) community served by organizations such as the Pacific Islander community association. Sister-city relationships tie Federal Way to Hachinohe, Japan; Donghae, South Korea; and, since 2022, Rivne, Ukraine. Notable people connected to the city include Olympic short-track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, 'American Idol' season-21 winner Iam Tongi (a Decatur High School student at the time of his 2023 win), and celebrity chef Mario Batali, who grew up there.

What makes Federal Way distinct. The city is named not for a person or place but for a road: 'Federal' Highway 99, the federally designated route that connected Seattle and Tacoma. Its 1990 incorporation was formally enacted at a bowling alley, the Sportsworld Lanes complex. The Weyerhaeuser headquarters was designed to blend into the land, with vines cascading over its stepped terraces, and was often described as an early 'green building.' The city hosts a significant Marshallese and broader Micronesian population, part of what makes it one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Washington.

Federal Way Landmarks and Local Life

• Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden - home to one of the world's largest collections of species rhododendrons, displaying over 700 of the more than 1,000 known species
• Pacific Bonsai Museum - one of only two U.S. museums devoted solely to bonsai, maintaining a collection of about 150 trees
• Wild Waves Theme & Water Park - the state's largest amusement-and-water park, which grew from the Enchanted Village (opened 1977) and the adjacent Wild Waves water park (opened 1984)
• Dash Point State Park - a 398-acre camping park with about 3,301 feet of Puget Sound saltwater shoreline
• The former Weyerhaeuser Corporate Headquarters - a landmark 1971 modernist 'building as landscape' by SOM's Edward Charles Bassett, wrapped in ivy-covered terraces