Georgetown Steam Plant

Significant dates

Seattle Electric Company Georgetown Steam Plant
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Seattle Landmark

Location	Seattle, Washington
Coordinates	47°32′34.02″N 122°18′57.74″W / 47.5427833°N 122.3160389°W / 47.5427833; -122.3160389Coordinates: 47°32′34.02″N 122°18′57.74″W / 47.5427833°N 122.3160389°W / 47.5427833; -122.3160389
Built	1906
Architect	Stone & Webster Engineering; Frank B. Gilbreth
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP Reference #	78002755
Added to NRHP	August 1, 1978^[1]
Designated NHL	July 5, 1984^[2]
Designated SEATL	September 10, 1984^[3]

The Georgetown Steam Plant, now the Georgetown PowerPlant Museum, located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, constructed in 1906 for the Seattle Electric Company, provided power for Seattle, notably for streetcars.

History

The plant was originally built by Stone and Webster in 1906. One of the first reinforced concrete structures on the U.S. West Coast, it originally provided power for the Interurban Railway between Seattle and Tacoma; it also provided both direct current for Seattle's streetcars and alternating current for Georgetown, then an independent city. They purchased General Electric steam turbine technology, based on patents originally held by inventor Charles Gordon Curtis. At the time, this was cutting edge technology, and the Georgetown Steam Plant "marks the beginning of the end of the reciprocating steam engine" as the dominant mode of generating electricity on a large scale.^[4]

Originally located along an oxbow of the Duwamish River to provide cooling water, the plant was left inland after the original river channel was straightened in 1917. Retired after nearly 75 years of operation, it remains "surprisingly complete and operable". The plant has three Curtis turbines, manufactured by the General Electric Company between 1906 and 1917.^[5]

Puget Sound Traction and Lighting Company (now Puget Sound Energy) bought the Seattle Electric Company in 1912; the Georgetown Steam Plant powered the Seattle-to-Tacoma Interurban and Seattle streetcars; it also provided residential and industrial power to Georgetown. Originally an oil-fired plant, it converted to a coal in 1917.^[5]

Landmark and museum

Workers at the plant, 1909.

The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1984,^[2] and is also designated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark.^[4] At the time of its landmarking, it contained the "last operating examples of the world's first large scale, steam turbine".^[6] The building itself, "built by a fast-track construction process, was designed and supervised by Frank W. Gilbreth, later a nationally famous proponent of efficiency engineering."^[6] The building is also a Seattle City Landmark^[7] and is on the Washington State Register of Historic Places.^[4]

Inside the plant. (2008)

Paul Carosino and Lilly Tellefson founded the Georgetown PowerPlant Museum to restore, maintain and operate the plant.^[5] The group was officially founded April 25, 1995. Carosino and Tellefson initially served as joint executive directors; Tellefson took over the role after Carosino's death in 1996.^[4]

The plant remains owned by Seattle City Light, the city's public electric utility; they lease it to the museum. The museum operates an accredited School of Technology; it opens to the general public from 10am to 2pm on the second Saturday of each month.^[8] In the past it has hosted hobbyist "steam meets". Simultaneously with the steam meets, the Puget Sound Garden Railroad Society operated a miniature steam railroad on the grounds. The May steam meet was a picnic, with numerous temporary exhibits.^[4]

The plant houses the last operable examples of early vertical steam generating turbines, as well as reciprocating steam engines, which are also operational, a collection of vintage machining tools, and several smaller steam engines.^[4]

The plant was the site of the last performance of the rock band Big Black.^[9]

Notes

Vertical steam turbine (2008).

↑ "Washington - King County". National Register of Historic Places. nationalregisterofhistoricalplaces.com. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
1 2 "Seattle Electric Company Georgetown Steam Plant". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
↑ "Landmarks and Designation". City of Seattle. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Georgetown Powerplant Museum brochure.
1 2 3 ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks #45, accessed online 25 August 2007.
1 2 Thomas & Allan 1984, p. 24
↑ Landmarks Alphabetical Listing for G, Individual Landmarks, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle. Accessed 28 December 2007.
↑ Georgetown PowerPlant Museum: Museum Information, museum opening times. Accessed online 4 November 2014.
↑ Big Black: The Last Blast, New York Times / Allmusic review. Accessed online 19 January 2008.

References

Thomas, Jacob; Allan, T. (1984-01-27). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination: Seattle Electric Company Georgetown Steam Plant" (PDF). National Park Service. p. 57. Retrieved 2007-12-28. . PDF: 425 KiB.
Seattle Electric Company Georgetown Steam Plant--Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, undated (1.06 MB), National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination, National Park Service, 1984. Accessed 28 December 2007.
"Historic American Engineering Record report on Georgetown Steam Plant". Historic American Engineering Record. 1984. Retrieved 2009-02-13. .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Georgetown PowerPlant Museum.

Georgetown Steam Plant - City of Seattle
ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks #45 - Information on the museum
Seattle Electric Company's Georgetown Steam Plant - National Park Service

Museums in the Puget Sound region

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Military	Coast Guard Museum Northwest Lewis Army Museum McChord Air Museum Naval Undersea Museum Puget Sound Navy Museum Washington National Guard Museum

Natural sciences	Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture Museum and Arts Center, Sequim, Washington

Science and technology	America's Car Museum Bellingham Railway Museum Georgetown Steam Plant Living Computer Museum Museum of Communications Pacific Science Center SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention Vintage Motorcycle Museum

See also: List of museums in Washington and Museums and galleries of Seattle

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Buildings	Puget Power Building Georgetown Steam Plant (Puget Sound Traction and Lighting)

Other	Puget Power trail

Energy Northwest Other Washington electric companies

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