THE SWEEN FAMILY

In 1914, C. J. Sween established a 20-acre poultry farm on the Sammamish Plateau. Though initially wanting to run a dairy farm, he realized most of his land wasn't suitable for grazing because of all the logged-off stumps, ferns, and gravel. He expanded to 300 acres by 1940, stretching south and west from near today's intersection of SE 4th Street and 228th Avenue SE in Sammamish. Sween (pronounced "Swinn") raised laying hens, but when his son Bill Sween took over the farm's operation in 1940, he switched the operation to raising commercially-sold fryers. The farm closed its operations in 1965. A portion of their land is now the Sammamish Commons Park.

More information on the Sween Poultry Farm can be downloaded here. (PDF)