Census snapshot: Mountlake Terrace

This is one of a series of looks at Snohomish and Island county communities based on data from the U.S. Census of 2010.

In the 19th century, the area that is now Mountlake Terrace was thickly forested. By 1900 most of the land in south Snohomish County had been logged, so the land was subdivided into 10-acre “chicken ranches.” A few people moved in to raise chickens, mink and chinchilla. But many farms failed during the Great Depression.

A portion of the area was used by the government during World War II as a landing field. In 1949, Albert LaPierre and Jack Peterson bought the abandoned airstrip and began filling it with modest cinder-block houses. They named their development Mountlake Terrace because from some parts of the property they could see both Mount Rainier and Lake Washington, and the old runway looked a little like a terrace.

The city was incorporated in 1954.

Mountlake Terrace population vs. Snohomish County and Washington

At a glance Mountlake Terrace County Washington
Population, 2010 19,909 713,335 6,724,540
Population change, 2000 to 2010 -2.2% 17.7% 14.1%
Population, 2000 20,362 606,024 5,894,121
Persons under 5 years 6.5% 6.6% 6.5%
Persons under 18 years 21.6% 24.4% 23.5%
Persons 65 years and over 10.3% 10.3% 12.3%
Female persons 51.1% 50.0% 50.2%
White persons 71.7% 78.4% 77.3%
Black persons 4.3% 2.5% 3.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons 1.1% 1.4% 1.5%
Asian persons 11.2% 8.9% 7.2%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders 0.8% 0.4% 0.6%
Persons reporting two or more races 6.1% 4.6% 4.7%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin 10.5% 9.0% 11.2%
White persons not Hispanic 67.3% 74.3% 72.5%

More about the city of Mountlake Terrace

• At Wikipedia.org

• At the U.S. Census Bureau website

• City of Mountlake Terrace official website

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