Factoria is part of the Duwamish Tribal Territory. "During the 1890s, loggers cut large stands of timber on land now known as Woodridge Hill, Richards Valley, Greenwich Crest, Mockingbird Hill, Monthaven, Newport Shores, and the commercial area of Factoria." In the late 1890s, the
Northern Pacific Railway laid tracks through the largely uninhabited area along the shores of Lake Washington near
Mercer Island. In the early 1900s a large industrial center was envisioned by a group of Seattle investors led by E. L. Skeel on what is now the interchange of
Interstate 405 and
I-90. In 1908 Skeel formed the Mercer Land Company and platted several blocks adjoining the railroad tracks. The new community was to be named Mercer. A stove factory was constructed at the town-site but never manufactured a single stove. By 1911, development of the community was at a standstill and the company, now run by a Sarah Kendall with Skeel as secretary, filed a new plat featuring more blocks and public space. The project was now called Factoria, a name that would hopefully attract major industries, which it never did. According to, In 1939, construction began on a new $800,000 highway project that straightened out the
Sunset Highway between Issaquah and Mercer Island and eventually led to the construction of the
Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge across Lake Washington. The new four-lane highway passed directly through Factoria and intersected with
Lake Washington Boulevard, then the major north–south highway on the East side. Following the opening of the bridge and highway in 1940, Factoria became a major crossroads. In 1950, the 900-car Sunset Outdoor Theatre was constructed near the intersection by Sterling Theatres, Inc. Factoria remained largely undeveloped up until the 1960s, when freeway construction put the area at the intersection of two major arterials,
Interstate 405 and
Interstate 90, which would replace most of the original town-site and create a major suburban retail center. The construction of a shopping center was announced in July 1961. Since the 2010s, the area has undergone significant
gentrification due to an influx of tech and other
white-collar workers. ==Commerce and industry==