1950 to 1960

Population: 16,039
Area: 14.2 square miles

Television rearranged life in Renton in the 1950s, as established furniture dealers began selling TV sets like hotcakes; its popular culture permeated every aspect of life. The Renton Municipal Pool Henry Moses was opened to the public in Liberty Park in 1955, and city hall moved into a building in the war surplus Cedar River Housing Park.

At the same time something else was brewing in Renton that would eventually rock the airline industry. While jet airplanes were already widely used in the military, Boeing introduced a new airplane, the Dash-80, the first commercial jet-powered (rather than propeller driven) airplane built in the world. The gamble worked; the Boeing Company produced its first 707 in 1958, signaling the beginning of commercial jet aviation worldwide.

Because of this, Renton can truly be called the birthplace of commercial jet aviation.

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