Mountlake Terrace, WA took its name from a view. Its 1949 developers could see Mount Rainier and Lake Washington from parts of their land, HistoryLink says, and the old runway looked a little like a terrace. Today the city of 24,750 (state estimate, April 1, 2026) has two Link light rail lines at its station, a 55-acre park on Lake Ballinger and a Town Center it is rebuilding in phases.
How did an airstrip become a city?
In 1949, Albert LaPierre and Jack Peterson bought an abandoned airstrip on logged-over land just over the Snohomish County line and began building 640-square-foot cinder-block houses priced at $4,999. Peterson ran construction like an assembly line: one crew laid the foundation and set the plumbing into the slab, another raised the block walls, a third did the interior walls and the roof. A row of houses could be finished within a few weeks, according to HistoryLink.
Growth outran the services. By 1954 there were no paved streets or sewers, HistoryLink reports, and the nearest police department was in Everett. Incorporation passed on November 23, 1954, by a margin of 34 out of exactly 1,000 votes cast. The first mayor, hardware-store owner Gil Geiser, lent the city $5 so its papers could be filed, and on November 29 Mountlake Terrace became a third-class city.
Ballinger Park and the lake
Lake Ballinger is a 100-acre lake within Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds, with a maximum depth of 35 feet and no internal-combustion motors allowed, according to Snohomish County. The city’s Ballinger Park, at 23000 Lakeview Drive, covers 55 acres on the lake’s north and east shores. Its 42-acre natural area is a former nine-hole golf course, now nature trails, ponds and Hall Creek, with the Interurban Trail to the west and the Lakeview Trail to the east. The boat launch, fishing pier and beach are on the east shore, and the park also holds a sports field and the Mickey Corso Community Clubhouse.
The lake was first called Lake McAleer, after logger Hugh McAleer, the city says. Richard A. Ballinger, elected Seattle mayor in 1904, bought the property in 1901 and named it for his father.
How do you get to Seattle and the Eastside?
By train, since August 30, 2024, when Sound Transit opened its 8.5-mile Link extension with stations at Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood City Center and two in Shoreline. Sound Transit now schedules two lines through Mountlake Terrace Station, at 6001 236th St SW: the 1 Line, between Lynnwood and Federal Way, and the 2 Line, between Lynnwood and Downtown Redmond by way of Bellevue. Service is sometimes changed for maintenance or events, so check Sound Transit’s alerts before a trip.
Buses feed the station. Community Transit Route 111 comes from Brier, Routes 130 and 909 from Edmonds Station, and Route 119 from Ash Way Park & Ride. The Swift Blue Line runs between Shoreline and Everett with a Mountlake Terrace stop.
Town Center and Main Street: what is built, what is planned
The city’s Main Street Revitalization Project is rebuilding the Town Center in phases. Phase I, completed in 2020, rebuilt 236th Street SW from I-5 to 56th Avenue W. Phase II covers 56th Avenue W from 236th Street SW to north of 232nd Street SW. As of October 2026, the city’s project page listed it in final design and right-of-way acquisition, with construction scheduled to begin in October 2026 and run 12 to 15 months. Check the city’s page for the current status.
The larger vision is a plan, not a finished district. The city describes converting the 82-acre Town Center to denser, transit-oriented development, with about 3,000 housing units and 625,000 square feet of commercial space anticipated.
Arts of the Terrace
Each year the city’s Arts Advisory Commission and the Friends of the Arts present a juried show at the Mountlake Terrace Library event rooms, 23300 58th Avenue W. The 2026 show, the 46th, ran September 19 to 26, with paintings, printmaking, drawings, miniatures, photography, three-dimensional and artisan works.
Living here
A runway that became a street grid, a golf course turned back into a natural area, and a station where two rail lines now stop: Mountlake Terrace has been rebuilt more than once, and is in the middle of doing it again.
If you are weighing a move to Mountlake Terrace, or selling a home here, Chase Hedin, Managing Broker, can help you think through how the light rail, Ballinger Park and the Town Center work fit your plans. Start a conversation or ask what your home is worth.