The Birth of the Big Steel Dream
A British entrepreneur plans to transform a massive site on the shores of Lake Washington into a steel empire, promising jobs for thousands.
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.
It has long been known to iron manufacturers that Mr. Peter Kirk, the manager of the Moss Bay Hematite Iron and Steel Works of Workington, Cumberland, England, is in Washington Territory investigating the field for such an establishment. He has now acquired a large tract of land on the eastern side of Lake Washington for the establishment of a steel plant of great proportions and iron rolling works, and the work of preparing the site has already begun. The western shore of the lake forms the eastern boundary of the city of Seattle, and the distance from the city to the works across the lake is about four miles. The site of the works has been named Kirkland. The capital of the new Moss Bay company is all of which has been taken in England. The new works are expected to employ 2,000 to 3,000 men. There are unlimited quantities of ore, said to be equal in quality to the best Lake Superior ore, in the mountains near the summit of the Cascade range, and other needed articles are within easy reach. This is the first attempt at steel making from the raw materials on the Pacific Coast.
“This is the first attempt at steel making from the raw materials on the Pacific Coast.”
Peter Kirk’s dream of a massive steel industrial complex in what became the city of Kirkland eventually faltered, yet the town name remains a permanent monument to his ambition. Today, Kirkland has pivoted from heavy industry to a major hub for tech and suburban life, reflecting Seattle's broader evolution from a resource-extraction economy to a modern urban center.
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