Cumberland is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
King County, Washington
King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the ...
. Originally a mining camp, Cumberland was named by F.X. Schriner in 1893 after the Cumberland coal region of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
.
Cumberland gained a post office on October 13, 1894. The
Enumclaw post office now serves this area. Although many other mining camps in the area have disappeared, Cumberland can still be found in the
Cascade foothills between
Nolte State Park and
Kanaskat-Palmer State Park. It is accessible via Southeast King County
backroads. Several smaller mines dotted the area, including the "Navy" mine, and the Hyde mine, located at the outskirts of town.
Cumberland is within the KCFD #28 Fire Department service area, also known as th
Enumclaw Fire Department It is a King County registered voting precinct.
In 1989, the county-wide transit and sewage waste municipality known as "Metro" (short for Metropolitan King County), planned a 25-year sewage sludge waste spraying on the of woods northwest of the town. Following a grassroots community protest, (which was led by Valerie Cunningham), objections from the
Muckleshoot Native American tribe (who are downriver on the nearby
Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
), and other environmental groups, the municipality agreed to create an
Environmental impact statement (EIS). The EIS showed a number of toxins and heavy metals present in the sewage sludge, and the project was officially cancelled by Metropolitan King County in 1992.
Cunningham vs Metropolitan Municipality of Seattle
In the aftermath of the sewage sludge fight, Valerie Cunningham and the Anti-Sludge Committee realized that the Metropolitan Municipality of Seattle Council "Metro" did not represent the rural communities fairly. Some Metro districts had two representatives, some had four representatives. Therefore, the Metro Council districts did not have a one person, one vote representation.
The American Civil Liberties Union represented Ms. Cunningham in a class action lawsuit, which she won. The results were that the King County voters decided to combine the Metropolitan Municipality of Seattle council with the King County council.
[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/751/885/1745203/]
References
Unincorporated communities in King County, Washington
Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)
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