 Seattle businessman Thomas Dabney established a claim on the south side of modern-day Medina in 1886, becoming the area's first permanent white settler.Dabney built a ferry dock in 1890, naming it Dabney's Landing, while the surrounding area was turned into berry farms and fruit orchards.Other settlers arrived at Dabney's Landing, which was briefly named Flordeline by its founder until objections were raised by a group of women who proposed the Arabic name "Medina" in 1891.