The Burien area was discovered by Mike Kelly in 1870, when they walked up a hill from the South Seattle, WashingtonSouth Seattle area. When he emerged from the trees he spoke the words, "This is truly a sunny dale." Still today, the Burien area is called Sunnydale. He claimed a 160 acre plot of land and built a house and a farm. Ten years later, Gottlieb Von Boorian, a GermanyGerman immigrant, arrived in Sunnydale. At this point, the community was only trails and small houses. There were no roads or buildings. Von Boorian built a cabin on the southeast corner of Lake Burien and also was said to have formed the community into a town bearing his name. (It has been misspelled over the years.) A real estate office was built and soon more people began pouring in to Burien. In the early 1900s, people of Seattle came by way of the Mosquito Fleet to Three Tree Point, just west of the new town. Here they sunbathed and swam. In 1915, the Burien railroad was completed. It ran on what is today Ambaum Boulevard from Burien to White Center, WashingtonWhite Center to Seattle. A small passenger train ran the tracks and was affectionately named by the residents, The Toonerville Trolley. However in the summer, squished caterpillars made the track slippery, and in the winter, the tracks iced over. Soon the Toonerville Trolley was more of a nuisance than anything and it was removed. Burien was officially incorporated on February 28, 1993. It previously comprised a portion of unincorporated King County. The city is served by the Highline Times (est.1945), a community weekly newspaper owned by Robinson Newspapers.It is a subscriber based publication with limited free distribution. Late in 2004, the City was assessing the possibility of annexing North Highline, WashingtonNorth Highline (which includes White Center and Boulevard Park, WashingtonBoulevard Park), "one of the largest unincorporated areas of King County," which would double the size of Burien. Many citizens have spoken against the annexation and have created picket signs and petitions to protest against it. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burien%2C_Washington