Andrew Carnegie’s Advice to Washington
The steel magnate urges the state to showcase its vast iron ore deposits at the upcoming World’s Fair.
Andrew Carnegie, the 'Star Spangled Scotchman' as he is sometimes called, has given a watchword to Washington with reference to the world’s fair exhibit. 'Show your iron ore,' says the greatest iron manufacturer in the world. He said to a reporter: 'I would suggest in a general way that the state of Washington will miss her greatest opportunity if she does not make a complete show of all of her wonderful resources. Why I am told you have a wealth of iron ore here that is exactly what the west needs and you should most certainly let the world know that you have good iron here. I have seen your coke and it is magnificent. You have the making of great industries here and you should by all means let the world know it. Washington is filled with mountains of iron, in which there is more wealth than in all the other minerals combined because iron is fast taking the place of materials heretofore used in the construction of buildings. A proper exhibit of our ores at Chicago would astonish the world; but what will be more astonishing is the fact that we have no immense iron foundries and factories yet in operation.'
“Washington is filled with mountains of iron, in which there is more wealth than in all the other minerals combined.”
Carnegie’s 1892 vision of Washington as an industrial iron powerhouse never fully materialized in the way he predicted, as the state’s economy pivoted toward timber, aerospace, and tech. Today, the 'mountains of iron' remain largely untapped, serving as a reminder of the boosterism that defined the state’s early industrial aspirations.
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