King County was originally named for William Rufus de Vane King, who was elected vice president with President Franklin Pierce in 1852. King was also a slave owner. The effort to change King County’s name came about in 1986 when King County Councilmembers Ron Sims and Bruce Olson got a proclamation passed declaring Dr. King to be the county’s official namesake. “However, years went by, and we never saw any evidence that it was actually Martin Luther King Jr. County," said Eddie Rye, Jr., a local activist. Rye said he put Gossett on the spot in front of a couple of thousand people and charged him with getting it done. Gossett told Rye he would start the next morning. Gossett said they went to the state legislature every year to get lawmakers to formally change the name. READ THE FULL STORY HERE: https://www.king5.com/article/news/community/facing-race/king-county-namesake-history-dr-martin-luther-king-jr/281-75018eb7-f142-48e1-aedc-cf477f205aa3