Tukwila Wedding

Tukwila (pronounced [tkwl]) is a city in King County, Washington, about 6 miles south of Seattle. The population was 17,181 at the 2000 census.

The earliest people in Tukwila were the Duwamish who made their homes along the Black and Duwamish Rivers. They named Tukwila for the lush forests of hazelnut trees which grew around them. The Duwamish lived in cedar longhouses, hunted and fished, picked wild berries and used the river for trade with neighboring peoples.

In 1853, the area was settled by Joseph Foster, a Canadian pioneer who had traveled to the northwest from Wisconson. Foster would become know as the "Father of Tukwila" and serve King County, Washington Territory in the legislature for 22 years. Today, Foster's legendary home on the banks of the Duwammish River is preserved as Fort Dent Park, as it also served as a military base during 1850s Indian Wars. Foster's name is also memorialized in the Foster neighborhood of Tukwila where Foster High School is located.