In the fall of 1899, local residents under the leadership of schoolteacher Jessie Cribley (1863-?) raised $22 to fund the creation of a small lending library and organized the Richmond Beach Library Association. In 1913 the area's major north/south thoroughfare, the North Trunk Highway, was paved with bricks, greatly aiding car and bus traffic near - but not directly through - Richmond Beach, which remained relatively isolated and bucolic. The arrival of the Seattle-Everett Interurban in 1906 linked the nearby settlements of Ronald and Richmond Highlands (located east of Richmond Beach along Aurora Avenue) with the cities to the south and north, indirectly easing access to Richmond Beach as well. Telephone service arrived in 1907, and electric power became available in 1914, according to the Richmond Beach Community Association. In 1891, residents built a one-room schoolhouse on land that 110 years later, and after some controversy, would become the site for the Richmond Beach Library. A small hotel served primarily Great Northern Railway workers.
Local businesses included a saloon, a butcher shop, two grocery stores, and a dance hall. Strawberries were a popular crop, and small poultry-raising operations were common. The Richmond Beach Post Office operated nearby, in one room of a small store.Įarly Richmond Beach was made up mainly of family farms, many featuring orchards.
A Great Northern Railway platform was completed there in 1891, and although the settlement had no official depot until 1907, the train would make unscheduled stops if flagged to do so. Platted in 1890, Richmond Beach was one of the first communities established in the large swath of northern King County now incorporated as the City of Shoreline. The Richmond Beach Library has been part of the King County Library System (KCLS) since 1944, when it became the second library to join the recently established KCLS.
Beginning with an initial collection of 100 volumes that had been discarded by The Seattle Public Library, the Richmond Beach Library's collection has grown to some 45,000 books. The Richmond Beach Library was founded in 1899 and from its inception has been a nucleus of community activity and learning.
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