The Iron Will of the Puget Soundry
How a local iron works became the pride of a young Seattle, forging the industrial future of the territory.
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.
There is no branch of business in Seattle of which her citizens take more pride than in the iron foundries. The most prominent among these is the Puget Soundry, on Front street, which, under the management of Mr. R. H. Tenny, has become a prosperous and paying institution. Hundreds of car wheels and other castings have gone out, and speak volumes for the industry and enterprise of the proprietors of that institution.
“There is no branch of business in Seattle of which her citizens take more pride than in the iron foundries.”
In 1880, Seattle’s identity was being forged in the literal foundries of Front Street (now First Avenue). Today, the city’s 'foundries' are built of software and cloud architecture, but the pride taken in local industry that keeps a town 'prosperous and paying' remains a core part of the Seattle mythos.
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