Drive guide
SR-167 — Auburn to Renton
39 things worth knowing along this corridor, in the order you meet them driving. Every one is sourced.
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Sal’s stories on SR-167
Along the way
historyMeridian Street Bridge
The Meridian Street Bridge over the Puyallup River in eastern Pierce County was built in 1925 to shorten the traveling distance between the Puyallup Valley and points north, particularly Tacoma to the northwest. A riveted, steel-frame span based on the popular Warren through-truss design, it was modified in a manner that made it perhaps unique. In 2015 the Meridian Street Bridge was moved intact to storage in the hope that it could be donated and repurposed, perhaps for use on a pedestrian or bicycle trail at a different location. As of July 2017 there had been no takers, but the offer was to remain open until summer 2019.
Source: historylink.org
sightLewis Lake Nature Park
Lewis Lake Nature Park, on the West Hill of Auburn, was completed in 2020 and named after former Mayor Peter B. Lewis. Its loop trail circles an approximate 2-acre lake.
Source: auburnwa.gov
developmentSouth County Recycling and Transfer Station
The South County Recycling and Transfer Station opened in 2026, replacing the neighboring 60-year-old Algona Transfer Station. The new station utilizes modern features to control light, sound and odor at the site. ... The station also features sustainable construction materials, rainwater collection systems, and solar panels that offset more than 50% of the station’s electrical needs.
Source: cdn.kingcounty.gov
sightPacific Veterans Memorials
In 2023 the City installed six (6) war memorials in three locations along Pacific’s portion of the Interurban Trail. The memorials honor veterans of the following conflicts: Roy Road World War I World War II County Line Road The Korean War The Vietnam War 3rd Ave SW The Gulf/Iraqi War The Afghanistan War
Source: pacificwa.gov
sightCentennial Viewpoint Park
The Auburn Rotary Club developed Centennial Viewpoint Park during Auburn's centennial year in 1991, and the small overlook looks across the Green River Valley toward Mount Rainier.
Source: auburnwa.gov
institutionAlgona-Pacific Library
Algona's first library was on the second floor of Milligan Hall, and Pacific's opened in 1947. Voters in both cities annexed their libraries to the King County Library System in 1990, and a new 5,250-square-foot Algona-Pacific Library opened on Ellingson Road on July 19, 1994.
Source: historylink.org
quirkGaines Park
Gaines Park was dedicated in May 1999 and named for former Auburn Mayor Robert E. "Bob" Gaines. It was a joint project between the Storm Water Division and Parks and Recreation and includes a Storm Retention Pond.
Source: auburnwa.gov
quirkJunkins' Grocery
Junkins' Grocery was located on the corner of Third and Milwaukee Boulevard. This was the building that was leased to Richard Gius when he opened his store in 1934. ... The building was sold to the Methodist Church to be used as a parsonage. ... Jeff Smith (1939-2004), who later gained fame as TV's "frugal gourmet," was one of the pastors who occupied the parsonage as a young student minister at the church.
Source: historylink.org
historyGius' Market
Gius' Market opened in the spring of 1934 kitty-corner from its 2015 location (300 Milwaukee Blvd. S) in a leased building owned by Charles Allen (1885-1945) and Cora (1882-1973) Junkins. Richard Gius had taken over the post office one year earlier. ... His father Amadio Gius (1875-1958) built the new store himself in less than a month. Richard and his wife Angie moved across the street, post office and all, in 1936. The building has been remodeled several times over the years with four generations serving the community.
Source: historylink.org
quirkAlgona Community News
The Algona Community News was the town's only newspaper, and its first issue was distributed on October 26, 1926. Only one copy of that issue exists.
Source: historylink.org
historyAlgona
The name Valley City was changed after a post office was opened in 1909, to avoid confusion with a similarly named post office in eastern Washington.
Source: historylink.org
historyWest Valley Highway
County engineers chose an alignment on the west side of the White (now Green) River Valley in 1909, and the West Valley Highway was built in the early 1910s.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyMill Creek
More than 100 years ago, valley farmers straightened the original creek bed of Mill Creek, turning it into a ditch that drains to the Green River.
Source: auburn-reporter.com
developmentSumner station
The platforms have three canopies that resemble hop kilns, reflecting Sumner's agricultural history, and act as waiting rooms for passengers. Sumner mayor George Ryan built the city's first train station in 1883, shortly after the completion of the Puget Sound Shore Railroad, a branch of the Northern Pacific Railway between Tacoma and Seattle. Sumner station officially opened on March 10, 2001, coinciding with the introduction of Sound Transit Express routes to the city.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentAuburn Environmental Park
Auburn Environmental Park was assembled through land acquisitions between 1996 and 2014, creating a permanently protected area 207 acres in size.
Source: auburnwa.gov
quirkPuget Sound Electric Railway
The Puget Sound Electric Railway, which paralleled the path of today's SR 167 through Algona, Auburn and Kent, drew power from overhead wire in urban areas and a third rail in rural areas. Its final trains ran on December 30, 1928.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyRyan House
The house was built by Fred Seaman as a one-room cabin. In 1872, George Ryan bought the property. He added onto the house in 1875 and 1885. In 1926, Ryan's family donated the property to the town of Sumner for use as the Sumner Public Library. Nevertheless, the Ryan House was demolished on 25 July 2025.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
institutionKent City Hall
Kent City Hall at 220 4th Avenue South was designed by Fred Bassetti and Company in 1971 and financed with $1.5 million in local bonds. It had several brick sculptures by Richard Beyer in the main lobby, and Fred Bassetti and Company completed a $60,000 alteration of its offices in 1978.
Source: pcad.lib.washington.edu
historySmith Brothers Farms
Smith Brothers was established in 1920 by Benjamin Smith, who started with a couple of Holstein cows that he milked by hand. In August 2013 the dairy moved from its original location of 93 years to its current headquarters and milk-processing facility in Kent.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
seasonalKent Cornucopia Days
The Kent Cornucopia Days festival began in the 1930s as the Kent Lettuce Festival and came back in 1946 as the Cornucopia Festival. The Kent Lions took over in 1972 as Meeker Days and changed the name in 1980 to avoid confusion with a Puyallup festival.
Source: kentreporter.com
institutionKent Library
The Kent Library checked out its first books in 1920 from a room in the Red Cross Community Center. In 1987 Kent and the King County Library System decided to jointly build a $3.2 million library on a new downtown site, which opened in 1991.
Source: historylink.org
institutionEmerald Downs
Emerald Downs first opened its doors to race fans on June 20, 1996, with the inaugural 100-day meet running through November 4. It replaced Longacres Racetrack, which closed in September 1992 after sixty seasons of racing. In 2002, the land where Emerald Downs is situated was purchased by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe for roughly $70 million.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentKent station
Kent station was dedicated by Sound Transit and local officials on February 3, 2001, and service began two days later on February 5. The parking garage, pedestrian bridge and bus bays were completed in March 2002.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyAuburn Station
Auburn, initially named Slaughter, received its first staffed train station in October 1889 on the Puget Sound Shore Railroad, part of the Northern Pacific Railway. A large station was built in 1902, near the intersection of C Street and Main Street to the north of the current Sounder platforms. Despite discussions with local business groups to preserve the building by moving it to another site, Burlington Northern demolished the depot in February 1979.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentAuburn City Hall
The Auburn City Hall was completed in 1978-1979 and designed by the Seattle architectural firm of Streeter/Dermanis and Associates. Auburn tried and failed four times to get voters to approve funds for a new City Hall. Then early in 1977 the city of 24,750 residents received a $3.8 million E.D.A. grant.
Source: pcad.lib.washington.edu
historySlaughter renamed Auburn
Slaughter was incorporated on June 13, 1891, but its name was changed two years later to Auburn on February 21, 1893, by an action of the state legislature. The name Auburn was chosen in honor of Auburn, New York, for the areas' shared reliance on hops farming.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
quirkDowntown Plaza
The Downtown Plaza, across the street from City Hall in Auburn, was completed in 2023 and is located atop a regional stormwater facility in an underground vault.
Source: auburnwa.gov
historyThomas
The community of Thomas was named after John Michelltree Thomas, who came to the Oregon Territory from Kentucky. He and his wife, Nancy, moved in on July 17, 1854, the first white couple to homestead in the valley. An Army fort was built at Thomas in 1855. Logs for Fort Thomas were shipped from Fort Steilacoom under the supervision of Lt. William Slaughter. After his death at the hands of Indians, the growing community that is now called Auburn was named Slaughter.
Source: archive.seattletimes.com
historyAuburn Avenue Theater
The former Auburn Avenue Theater was built in 1926 as a bus depot and later served as a movie theater and a playhouse. A new Auburn Avenue Theater on the site is due to wrap by early 2027.
Source: auburn-reporter.com
historyAuburn Carnegie Library
On February 20, 1914, residents of Auburn celebrated the opening of the city's new Carnegie Library. Located on the corner of 3rd Street NE and Auburn Avenue, the handsome brick building, designed by architect David J. Myers and constructed by contractor Fredrick L. Berner, was funded by a $9,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Carnegie Library served Auburn for 50 years before the city built a new, larger library in 1964.
Source: historylink.org
historyAuburn Municipal Airport
The airport is referred to as Dick Scobee Field, after Francis "Dick" Scobee, an Auburn and Washington native who was the commander astronaut for the Space Shuttle Challenger. Scobee was killed in the 1986 Challenger disaster.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyBereiter House
The Bereiter House in Kent is listed as a fifteen room house. Its third floor, approximately 800 square feet, was used as a game area with a pool table in one room and a card room in the other.
Source: kenthistoricalmuseum.org
institutionWizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast (WotC) was founded by Peter Adkison in 1990 outside of Seattle, Washington, and its current headquarters is located in nearby Renton. WotC debuted Magic: The Gathering in July 1993 at Origins Game Fair in Dallas. In 1999, toy manufacturer Hasbro acquired the company and currently operates it as a subsidiary.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyRenton Shopping Center
Renton Shopping Center was the city's first shopping mall. It was located on a 28-acre site near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Rainier Ave South. It opened in March 1960, years before I-5, I-405, or Southcenter mall were constructed. Fred Meyer purchased the property and built their superstore on the site in 1995. Before they demolished the building, they saved the fountain and sculptures and donated them to the city, and they can still be seen today.
Source: rentonhistory.org
quirkSpace Needle of Renton
This mini Space Needle replica is about 60 feet tall. It has been here since at least the 1970s. It was originally built for Renton Dodge. This U-Haul outlet has been here for many years. The top part of the Space Needle sign revolves.
Source: roadarch.com
institutionValley Medical Center
Valley Medical Center was established in 1945 as Renton Hospital and incorporated as a public hospital district two years later. It was renamed Valley General Hospital and moved to a new suburban campus in 1969, and took the name Valley Medical Center in 1984.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyThe Moses Family of Renton
For many decades members of the Moses family of Duwamish Indians lived in a rough dwelling near the Black River, just to the west of the Renton High School site. The river began drying up in 1916 after the Lake Washington Ship Canal opened.
Source: historylink.org
institutionRenton IKEA Performing Arts Center
In 1999 the Renton Community, Renton School District, City of Renton and the Renton Community Foundation formed a partnership for the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center. A $500,000 pledge from IKEA secured naming rights, and the center opened its doors for a donor gala on June 6, 2003.
Source: rentonschools.us
historyRenton High School
Renton High School was founded in 1911. Its first building stood on wooden pilings that started to rot when Lake Washington was lowered for the ship canal, and it was replaced by a larger school in March 1932.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Landscape you can see from the road
| Feature | Type |
|---|---|
| Bingaman Pond | Lake |
| Fivemile Lake | Lake |
| Harrison Creek | Stream |
| Lake Chalet | Lake |
| Lake Dolloff | Lake |
| Lake Geneva | Lake |
| Lake Killarney | Lake |
| Mill Creek | Stream |
| North Lake | Lake |
| Pony Lake | Lake |
| Salmon Creek | Stream |
| Spider Lake | Lake |
Stops along this corridor
| Kind | Count |
|---|---|
| restaurant | 814 |
| grocery | 276 |
| fast food | 232 |
| coffee | 221 |
| park | 169 |
| bar | 106 |
| memorial | 23 |
| museum | 9 |
| attraction | 1 |
Where to eat along this corridor
Town by town, what is actually within a short detour of the highway.
- Kent — 79 places to eat
- Puyallup — 17 places to eat
- Renton — 78 places to eat
- Sumner — 10 places to eat
- Tacoma — 5 places to eat
Coverage
withby narrates 8 map cells on this corridor today.
Sal rides this road with you
In the car now? Start drivingSend this drive to my phoneNo account needed
Driving later? Keep Sal for the drive
No account needed