Clyde Hill
Clyde Hill is just barely a mile and a half square, but don’t call this city of 2,900 in its own right a neighborhood of Bellevue. It is a neighbor to Bellevue, but it incorporated as its own city in an effort to preserve its independence, control lot sizes and prevent commercialization.
Homesteaded in 1882, the community didn’t identify itself as Clyde Hill until the mid 20th century when the neighborhood formed a community club and had to pick a name. An early pioneer had named one of the local roads Clyde – so called because his memories of the Firth of Clyde were triggered by the lake and its setting. The community liked the name of the road so much they adopted it as the name of their community – and later, their city.
Clyde Hill is served by an elected mayor and City Council. The city contracts with Bellevue for fire protection but does have its own police department.