3. HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Bridle Trails area began to be settled in the 1860s. Some of those early settlers in the neighborhood were: Nils P. Andrews, Eric Botsford, William C. Hamley, Miles Bigelow, and John Jehli.

Bridle Trails State Park was part of the original land grant to Washington State in 1889, and its timber sales were managed to support public schools. Equestrian communities formed around the state park in the early 1900s, and it was these communities that lobbied for the public land to become a state park where residents could ride their horses. In the early 1930’s the Commissioner of Public Lands set aside the area of the current park for park use. The state park was a focal point for the neighborhood, and most homes near the park had a barn and paddock to keep horses. Washington State Parks began leasing the land for park use in 1962 from the Department of Natural Resources, then purchased the park over the period 1972-1992. Lake Washington Saddle Club and Bridle Trails Park Foundation are two non-profit organizations that have been instrumental in sustaining the park over the years.

The residential areas that comprise the Bridle Trails neighborhood are relatively recent annexations to Kirkland. The Houghton consolidation (including Sablewood) was annexed in 1968. Bridlewood Circle was annexed in 1969, the Central Park (now the Hunt Club) and Flying Horseshoe areas in 1986, Silver Spurs and land north of NE 60th ST in 1988, land south of Sablewood in 1989, and Bridleview in 2009.