The Dream of Kirkland as the 'Pittsburg of the Pacific'
Capitalists promise that an industrial boom in iron production will transform the landscape of the Eastside.
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 happy realization of the dreams of princely iron capitalists, which was to make Kirkland the great iron city of Puget Sound, the Pittsburg of the Pacific, has come to pass. The Great Western Iron and Steel Works is now building an extensive plant for the reduction of the ore found in the great iron deposits adjacent to Seattle. The company is expending thousands of dollars in fulfilling their promises to the people. Foundries, machine shops, blacksmith shops, pattern shops are in the course of erection. On November 22, 1890, a ship sailed from England with 2,270 tons of fire-brick for the construction of the blast furnaces, and another large vessel has since started with a cargo of fire-brick and cement. After the furnaces are built, the rolling mills will be built. Two hundred and seventy tons of machinery have been purchased in the East and will be shipped to Kirkland as soon as needed.
“Kirkland is the gateway to the wealth of the Cascades; is in the heart of the greatest limestone ledge on the Pacific Coast.”
Kirkland ultimately failed to become an industrial iron titan, eventually pivoting toward suburban residential development. This 1891 boosterism highlights the perpetual Seattle-area cycle of declaring every growing neighborhood the 'next big city' of the Pacific.
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