McMasters

Stories of St. Edward

John McMasters moved to Washington in its statehood year of 1889. He was a prominent shingle mill operator in Snohomish and Kitsap counties before establishing the McMaster Shingle Mill in Kenmore in 1901, on the very plot of land The Lodge stands on today.

On January 10, 1901 McMaster named the village of Kenmore in honor of his previous home of Kenmore, Ontario in Canada. Kenmore, Ontario, was in turn named for the town of Kenmore, Scotland, and a century later the city still honors its Scottish roots with an annual Founders' Day celebration, held on January 10.

In 1903, he became Kenmore's first postmaster, with the opening of the first post office, which delivered mail from the company store of his sawmill.

_{Source: HistoryLink.org}