Medina, a City in Washington, USA

 

Medina is a city located in the Eastside, a region of King County, Washington, United States. Surrounded on the north, west, and south by Lake Washington, opposite Seattle, Medina is bordered by Clyde Hill and Hunts Point, as well as the satellite city of Bellevue. The city's population was 3,011 at the 2000 census. The city is mostly residential and home to Bill Gates (philanthropist and Microsoft chairman), Charles Simonyi (space tourist and former Microsoft executive), and Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners outfielder).

Medina has the third highest per-capita income in the state of Washington and the 49th highest in the United States.

Named in 1891 after the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia, Medina was platted in 1914 and officially incorporated on August 19, 1955.

In 1891, T.L. Dabney built the first landing in Medina on what later became known as Dabney Point. The landing was directly across from the Leschi Park landing and it became the main crossing point for settlers to enter “the Points Country”. As the community around the landing began to grow, local residents wanted to give it a distinct name. A community meeting was held and three women were appointed to select a name for the community. Flora Beloti’s choice was the name selected. She had decided on the name “Medeena”, after the Arabian city. Dabney was offended, he wanted it named “Floridine”. Dabney built a large sign that said “Floridine” and placed it in the water beside his landing. The next evening when he came home from working in Seattle, he found his sign had been replaced by a “Medeena” sign. He promptly took it down and put his sign back up. This feud continued for several days, with Dabney replacing the “Medeena” sign each evening when he would return from work. The ladies prevailed. Dabney eventually tired and left the “Medeena” sign up.

Medina is located at 47°37′36″N 122°13′58″W / 47.62667°N 122.23278°W / 47.62667; -122.23278 (47.626571, -122.232805).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12.4 km²), of which, 1.4 square miles (3.7 km²) of it is land and 3.3 square miles (8.7 km²) of it (69.94%) is water.
Medina is connected to Seattle on the western shore of Lake Washington by State Route 520 on the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, the longest floating bridge in the world.

Mark Nelson is the current mayor of Medina.