Pittsburgh Capital Bets on Seattle’s Industrial Future
A new steel works in Seattle, managed by a Pittsburgh expert, signals the city’s post-fire resurgence and potential to become a national steel hub.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The establishment of steel works in Seattle, with a Pittsburgh manager at the head, is gratifying enough in itself, but it is still more satisfactory to know that our Pittsburgher has gone to a town that, having been nearly destroyed by fire, is so soon on its feet again that it is ready to start new enterprises. William Hainsworth, the Pittsburgher referred to, has gained a national reputation by his steel gun. What if it did blow to pieces under a tremendous pressure? The mere fact that it had been made argued ability and pluck on the part of its manufacturer and showed that there was stuff in him that would ‘stand extreme tests,’ even if the gun failed technically. Any enterprise that could bring to the surface a man showing the possession of qualities that these colonies will send many thousands of miles for, could not be a failure. Mr. Hainsworth thinks he will yet make a cast steel gun that will displace the built-up weapon, and he will if such a thing is within the bounds of possibility. The spread of the steel industry in far western towns is one of the surest indications of the general prosperity that is overspreading the country. The steel works have more significance than upon the surface. There is a growth of iron ore in the West that has never yet been fully utilized. Seattle is going so extensively into the manufacture of steel that we should to its utmost limit. The mining operations will take workmen; the workmen must have homes and food, and cities will spring up to accommodate them.
“What if it did blow to pieces under a tremendous pressure? The mere fact that it had been made argued ability and pluck.”
This 1889 report captures Seattle’s post-Great Fire optimism. The city's transition from timber to heavy industry, driven by outside capital and 'plucky' inventors, mirrors the tech-boom cycles that have defined the city's growth for over a century.
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