Shoreline-Richmond Beach

Richmond Beach, one of the oldest areas of Shoreline, started as part of ninety-eight acres of land which was deeded to George Fisher in 1872. Mr.Fisher sold that land in 1882 for $846. In 1888, John Papendick bought a tract for $2,050 and in 1889 C W Smith bought 63 acres from Papendick for$4,000 and named the town Richmond Beach, after Richmond, England.

Property has been bought, sold, divided and developed many times over the past 125 years, resulting in the current community of Richmond Beach. People coming to the Seattle area saw Richmond Beach as a place of opportunity and the town grew steadily. The Holloway family settled here in 1889 and their daughter Lena was the first pioneer child born in Richmond Beach.

Connecting with the outside world The Great Northern Railroad platform was completed in Richmond Beach in1891 and the train would make unscheduled stops if properly flagged. The Adams family applied for a Post Office license in 1890 and set aside a room in their store across from the railroad platform for that purpose. The railroad was required to pick up and deliver mail which came from Seattle or Edmonds; the mail sacks were often hung from a metal hook and the mail was taken on the fly. Mail was the primary method of communication with the outside world for the residents of Richmond Beach, bringing personal letters, newspapers, style magazines, Sears Roebuck and Co., and Montgomery Ward catalogues and farm magazines from the East, many of which advertised articles on how to get rich quick on the Pacific Coast. The post office was also the center for local news and gossip.