Best Web Design in Shoreline, WA (2026)

Web Design for Shoreline, Washington

Shoreline is a suburban city immediately north of Seattle in King County, taking its name from the school district whose boundaries ran 'shore to shore' between Puget Sound and Lake Washington and 'line to line' from Seattle's old city limit to the Snohomish County line. Historically Coast Salish land, then early-1900s farms and lumber tracts, it incorporated only in 1995 to keep control of its own future. Today it is a park-rich commuter city reshaped by new Sound Transit light-rail stations along Interstate 5.

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

About Shoreline

Also known as. Shore to Shore, Line to Line (origin of the city name).

History. The area was Coast Salish territory, with seasonal camps at Richmond Beach and along Boeing Creek and Thornton Creek where people gathered cranberries, salmonberries, and salmon. The first homesteaders arrived in the 1880s, clearing timber for small farms. Richmond Beach was platted in 1890 in anticipation of the Great Northern Railway, and a Seattle-Everett Interurban streetcar line connected the area in 1906. The name 'Shoreline' was given to the local school district in 1944 because its boundaries stretched shore to shore and line to line. From 1950 to 1957 it was the fastest-growing community in the Seattle area, with a 64% population increase. After Seattle studied annexing the area in 1988, residents organized to retain their own school system and incorporated Shoreline as a code city on August 31, 1995.

Local economy. At incorporation Shoreline was the fourth-largest city in King County and tenth-largest in Washington. Crista Ministries is headquartered in Shoreline and is a major local institution and employer. Shoreline Community College, established in 1964, anchors education and workforce training. Aurora Avenue (State Route 99), a commercial corridor since 1913, remains the city's main north-south business spine. Two Sound Transit 1 Line light-rail stations (Shoreline South/148th and Shoreline North/185th) opened in 2024, spurring transit-oriented development. The economy benefits from the growth of technology and health-care sectors in the adjacent Seattle metro area.

Culture and community. The free Celebrate Shoreline festival is held at Cromwell Park, with an amphitheater, live music, food trucks, a beer garden, and family activities. Shoreline has produced or raised a range of notable figures, including actor Rainn Wilson, soccer star Michelle Akers, Olympic basketball player Josh Hawkinson, and American Idol finalist Sanjaya Malakar. Civil-rights leader Edwin T. Pratt, executive director of the Seattle Urban League, lived in Shoreline and was murdered at his home there in 1969. The city has a sister-city relationship with Boryeong, South Korea, established in 2002. Shoreline's 25 parks cover about 330 acres, making outdoor recreation central to local life.

What makes Shoreline distinct. The city literally named itself after a school district acronym: 'Shore to Shore, Line to Line.' Fircrest, a 90-acre campus that began as a World War II naval hospital, now serves people with developmental disabilities. Residents incorporated the city in 1995 largely to avoid being annexed by Seattle and to protect their school system. Ronald Grade School (built 1912) and other early buildings survive as designated community landmarks.

Shoreline Landmarks and Local Life

• Kruckeberg Botanic Garden - a noted specialty garden of Northwest and rare plants
• Richmond Beach Saltwater Park - a bluff-and-beach park with about a mile of Puget Sound shoreline
• Hamlin Park - Echo Lake Park, and Cromwell Park
• Shoreline Community College campus - adjacent to Shoreview Park
• The William E. Boeing House (1914) in The Highlands - a designated landmark
• The Interurban Trail - completed in September 2007 along the former streetcar right-of-way