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Covington
History City of Covington in Washington |
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and learn all about the famous Covington name please click HERE
Map:
Official Geographical Location:
47°21′57″N, 122°6′1″W
Geographical Description:
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 5.8 square miles (15.0 kmē), of which, 5.8 square miles (14.9 kmē) of it is
land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 kmē) of it (0.69%) is water
.
History:
Covington is a new city but the history and spirit of the Covington area
extends back over 100 years. The original Covington area was called Jenkins
Prairie and was used as an annual gathering place for the Indians. The
name continues with Jenkins Creek, there is even a Jenkins Creek Elementary
School.
In the 1880's the Northern Pacific Railroad commissioned a surveyor by
the name of Covington to develop a railroad line between Auburn and Kanasket. Along the way a stop was named for him and a
community was born.
In 1890 the Covington Lumber Company was formed at the junction of Soos Creek and the Northern Pacific Railway just southwest
of the Covington depot. A dam thirty feet high was built to create a log pond.
Even back then the Game Department required that they put a fish ladder in for
the salmon. The lumber mill could produce 6,000 board feet of lumber per hour
and also housed a shingle factory. The company and mill town of Covington were
located about four miles southwest of what is now QFC.
An abundance of timber and water in the area soon lured other lumbermen
to be built in Covington. Charlie Meredith built a mill on Jenkins Creek just
north of the whistle stop and the Award Lumber Company was located about three
miles east of Auburn. One of the best-known mills in the area was started by
three partners and was named the Covington Creek Mill.
Services were soon to follow and by the 1900's the area had a school,
store, post office, loan office, feed mill and fire station. The cooperative
store, Granger's Co-Op, was formed because of high prices and a feud with Kent
merchants. A cemetery was started around the same time, Meridian Cemetery, and
the land was purchased for $5 per acre.
Phone service was introduced to Covington by this time as well. The cost
was $12.00 per year for the "Farmers Party Line" and a refund was
offered each year if there was little or no trouble on the lines. A Covington
telephone directory was printed as early as 1911.
After the trees were logged off, the Soos
Creek stump ranchers" arrived to work the land. They cleared the stumps
and brush turning the area into valuable dairy pastures.
Jenkins Creek
Elementary School
Recent History:
In 1937 Covington had it's own school district
number 138. It was housed in a building on the Kent-Black Diamond Road. On
school days you could hear the school bell ring for miles. When the building
burned down the bell was refurbished and donated to Covington Elementary School
on Wax Road. It is still there today.
The area has continued to grow with neighborhoods
of single housing units giving it a unique family atmosphere. An additional
5,000 family units are expected to be built in the area in the next 20 years.
Covington was built by the type of hard working, caring people that we
still have here today. And as history has continued to show, so has the strong
community spirit. As one community resident put it "Covington... a touch
of America".
New Retailers
Covington was officially incorporated as a city on August 31, 1997. In 2006,
new Covington downtown businesses included a new Wal-Mart, a Kohls, a Carl's
Jr, an Applebees. 2008 brought the newly opened Red
Robin, Cutter's Point, and Home Depot in the new shopping center next to
Jenkins Creek Elementary School. Fast growth is expected to continue in the
area due to the continued widening and modifications done on State Route 18.
New businesses arriving in 2008 included a Costco behind the Fred Meyer.
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