Carnation, WA: It came from contented cows...

Market Update: Carnation, WA 98014

The city of Carnation, Washington, is a picturesque small town on the very eastern fringe of the greater Seattle metropolitan area. It’s tucked up next to the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The city was incorporated in 1912 as Tolt, Washington. A few years later (1917) it was named Carnation, then in 1928 it was renamed back to Tolt, then finally in 1951 (twice and forever) it was renamed back to Carnation, after the research farm Carnation Milk Products.

It’s an interesting local history. Elbridge Amos Stuart (1856 – 1944) founded the Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company in Kent, Washington in 1899. It was based on the newly developed process of evaporation. Now days we don’t think much about fresh milk, it’s delivered fresh and cold everywhere. But before refrigeration readily available fresh sanitary milk was rare. Stuart had his ups and downs with this new business and method for several years. His partner left him in 1901 with the company and over $100,000 in debt. He pressed on with the simple idea that milk was a staple and never lost faith that quality milk came from healthy cows.

He believed in this idea so much that he purchased purebred bulls and distributed them to local farmers that were his distributors. This led to the creation of a breeding farm, the Carnation Farm. With each successive generation came a better healthier cow with better milk production.

One day on a trip to Seattle Stuart walked by a tobacco shop. He saw some cigars on display named, Carnation. There you have it ... the Carnation Evaporated Milk Company.

"Carnation Condensed Milk, the milk from contented cows".

It’s funny the things you remember as a child, but I remember riding to Newcastle to see my Great Grandmother. There was always a can of Carnation Evaporated Milk in the kitchen. She loved it with her coffee and tea.

A.E. Stuart served in the company directly until, as Chairman of the Board, he passed away in 1944. The company sold to Nestlé in 1985 for 3 billion...

Today, Carnation is a small town in an absolutely beautiful rural area. It’s outside the urban growth boundary and has a lot of small farms and equestrian properties. Much of the zoning in the area is 5, 10, and 15+ acre minimum per household. You’re about an hour out of Seattle on light traffic days, 30 minutes from Issaquah, and 45 minutes from downtown Bellevue. There’s no shortcuts, you have to go around Lake Sammamish north or south to get anywhere west.

I hope they never build a freeway there. I like the fact that it’s unspoiled and somewhat remote yet on the fringe of the Northwest’s largest metro area. If you head 20 minutes south to Interstate 90 you’re on Washington’s main east/west corridor. There are a lot of very beautiful (absolutely awesome) estates in the area, but Carnation hasn’t lost its old world charm and still has plenty of quainter homes that depict its rural history and roots.

You can follow the City of Carnation on twitter at: @carnationwa and they have a Facebook page. Notice in the RTS (residential transaction study) that the unplatted (or acreage) properties are on average just under 8 acres.

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