Search

Heritage Tours:

Search for a tour by category:

Search site:

string(50) "https://revisitwa.org/wp-content/themes/revisitwa/"

Carnation

Largely a settlement of Scandinavians engaged in farming and dairying, it was founded in 1865 as Tolt for the Indian band living nearby. In 1917, the State legislature renamed the town Carnation for the neighboring dairy farm, which supplied the goods for Carnation Evaporated Milk Company, founded and based in Kent, south of Seattle.

Today, you’ll see the town’s original name everywhere, such as at Tolt-MacDonald Park, a 574-acre park with trails and campgrounds at the confluence of the Snoqualmie and Tolt rivers. There a few notable historic buildings that remain and show off the town’s immigrant, farming, and dairy roots.

Points of Interest Points of Interest icon

Oddfellows Hall

The 1895 Oddfellows Hall stands along the route, displaying a gambrel roof form more often seen on agricultural buildings in Washington—perhaps a nod to the town’s dairying tradition. The building is now an Eagles Hall and is a City of Carnation Landmark as well as being listed in both the National Register and the Washington Heritage Register.

Andrew and Bergette Hjertoos Farm

The Andrew and Bergette Hjertoos Farm illustrates the economic success of early 20th century family dairy farming in the Snoqualmie River Valley. The property has been directly associated for nearly 100 years with several generations of the Hjertoos family, Norwegian immigrants who settled here in the 1890s. The farm consists of an ornately detailed dwelling and a large hay bam dating from 1907 and ca. 1910 respectively, as well as surrounding acreage now converted to use as a Christmas tree farm.

David and Martha Entwistle House

The David and Martha Entwistle House, constructed in 1912 by an unknown builder, is associated with the Entwistle family, early pioneers in the Carnation area and prominent members of the community for many years. The house is also significant as a last remnant of the Entwistle fruit farm, a 40-plus-acre tract situated at the southeast comer of town. Because the farm remained in productive operation into the mid-1950s, its longevity affected the pattern of Carnation’s new residential development through that decade and beyond. The Entwistle fruit farm played an important role in the town’s economy and the Entwistle House is the best-preserved and finest expression of Craftsman style architecture in the town of Carnation.

Return