George Kinnear

Who was George Kinnear?

George Kinnear was an early Seattle, Washington real estate developer, responsible for some of the early residential development of Queen Anne Hill. He also had a brief military career.

He was born in Pickaway County, Ohio. His family soon moved to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where they lived in a log cabin at Lafayette on the banks of the Wabash. When he was three years old, his father purchased land on Flint Creek and, making his own bricks, erected a brick dwelling with a walnut interior. When Kinnear was nine, his family moved to Woodford County, Illinois, taking their livestock with them.

With the outbreak of the Civil War Kinnear joined the Forty-seventh Illinois Regiment, with which he remained until mustered out in 1864. During the war he had sent home much of his pay to his mother, intending to help her out with household expenses. She, however, had lived very modestly and invested his money, leaving him with the not inconsiderable fortune of US$3600 upon his return from service. He invested in a herd of cattle which he fed through the winter and sold at an advance the following spring, using the proceeds in the purchase of two sections of Illinois land.