The Iron Backbone of the Puget Sound Frontier
Before skyscrapers and tech, Seattle was built on pipes, brick-ovens, and the ambition of merchants like Waddell & Miles who powered the city’s rapid expansion.
Waddell & Miles, Wholesale and Retail Dealers in Stoves and Tinware, offer the largest stock and greatest variety of cooking and box stoves in Washington Territory. With over 50 different kinds and styles to select from, including the old favorites Diamond Rock and Superior Chief Cook for wood or coal. We provide iron pipe for gas, water, or steam, available in black or galvanized, alongside malleable iron pipe fittings. We also stock suction and force pumps, and a complete line of plain, japanned, planished, and stamped tinware. Our inventory includes English, French, and German enameled tinned hollow ware. Having the largest pipe-cutting and threading machine on the Sound, we are prepared to cut and thread pipe of all sizes from 1/4 inch to 3 inches. As agents for Van's celebrated wrought-iron ranges and patent coffee urns for hotels and steamboats, we invite the public to see our stock before purchasing elsewhere.
“Having the largest pipe-cutting and threading machine on the Sound, we are prepared to cut and thread pipe... with promptness and at lowest prices.”
In 1875, Waddell & Miles provided the vital infrastructure—pipes, ranges, and stoves—that allowed Seattle to move from a frontier outpost to a growing city. Today, Seattle's obsession with specialized industry and infrastructure development continues, though the focus has shifted from cast-iron stoves to cloud data centers and high-speed fiber.
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