Cumberland, Washington

47°16′59″N 121°55′32″W / 47.28306°N 121.92556°W / 47.28306; -121.92556CountryUnited StatesStateWashingtonCountyKingElevation850 ft (260 m)Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)ZIP codesArea code360GNIS feature ID1518407^[1]

Cumberland is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington. Originally a mining camp, Cumberland was named by F.X. Schriner in 1893 after the Cumberland coal region of the Appalachian Mountains.^[2] Cumberland gained a post office on October 13, 1894. The Enumclaw post office now serves this area. Although many other mining camps in the area have disappeared, Cumberland can still be found in the Cascade foothills between Nolte State Park and Kanaskat-Palmer State Park. It is accessible via Southeast King County backroads. Several smaller mines dotted the area, including the "Navy" mine,^[3] and the Hyde mine, located at the outskirts of town.

Cumberland is within the KCFD #28 Fire Department service area, also known as the Enumclaw Fire Department. It is a King County registered voting precinct.

In 1989, the county-wide transit and sewage waste municipality known as "Metro" (short for Metropolitan King County), planned a 25-year sewage sludge waste spraying on the 400 acres (1.6 km²) of woods northwest of the town. Following a grassroots community protest, (which was led by Valerie Cunningham),^[4] objections from the Muckleshoot Native American tribe (who are downriver on the nearby Green River), and other environmental groups, the municipality agreed to create an Environmental impact statement (EIS). The EIS showed a number of toxins and heavy metals present in the sewage sludge, and the project was officially cancelled by Metropolitan King County in 1992.

Cunningham vs Metropolitan Municipality of Seattle

In the aftermath of the sewage sludge fight, Valerie Cunningham and the Anti-Sludge Committee realized that the Metropolitan Municipality of Seattle Council "Metro" did not represent the rural communities fairly. Some Metro districts had two representatives, some had four representatives. Therefore, the Metro Council districts did not have a one person, one vote representation.^[5] The American Civil Liberties Union represented Ms. Cunningham in a class action lawsuit, which she won. The results were that the King County voters decided to combine the Metropolitan Municipality of Seattle council with the King County council.^[6]

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