Industry
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Coal Gasification Plant Some of the most interesting abandoned places in Washington State are located right in Seattle. In 1906, the Seattle Gas Lighting Company began operating its coal gasification plant on the north shore of Seattle’s Lake Union. Its purpose was to convert coal into flammable gas for lighting in homes and businesses. The process involved passing steam through superheated coal, which released a gas consisting mostly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The manufactured “city gas” or “town gas” as it was known, not to be confused with natural gas, which is created deep underground, was supplied through 137 miles of pipe to customers as far north as Everett and as far south as Kent. In 1937, oil replaced coal as the fuel source for the gasification plant. Operations ceased in 1956 with the arrival of natural gas via a pipeline from Canada. The site is now known as Gasworks Park. Unless otherwise notes, present-day photographs are by the author. |
Public domain photo, 1910
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Public domain photo, 1907
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Photo credit: Seattle Municipal Archives, 1962
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Photo credit: Seattle Municipal Archives, 1971
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Photo credit: Seattle Municipal Archives, 1973
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Public domain photo, 2007
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Georgetown Steam Plant The Georgetown Steam Plant was built in 1906 for the Seattle Electric Company. It generated alternating current for what was then the city of Georgetown (now part of Seattle). It also generated direct current for Seattle’s streetcars and the Seattle to Tacoma Interurban. About this time, hydroelectric power was being developed as well. Eventually the Georgetown steam plant was used primarily as a backup when hydroelectric power could not meet the electrical demands of Seattle and Tacoma. The last time the steam plant produced electricity was in 1953. It generated alternating current and direct current for Seattle's street cars. What is remarkable about the steam plant is that it houses the only two remaining intact Curtis Vertical Steam Turbines in the world. |
Public domain photo
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Public domain drawing
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Public domain photo
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Photo credit: tinyfugu via Flickr
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Satsop Nuclear Power Plant Of all the abandoned places featured in this book, the Satsop Nuclear Power Plant was by far the most expensive. It consisted of two nuclear reactors, named WNP-3 and WNP-5. These two reactors were part of a project to construct five nuclear power plants in Washington State by the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS). This project was the largest nuclear power plant construction project in U.S. history. Construction began in 1977 and was terminated in 1982, with WNP-3 76 percent complete and WNP-5 only 16 percent complete. The project was plagued by mismanagement and huge cost overruns. Cost estimates ballooned from the original $4 billion to $24 billion. With the failure of WPPSS (which later became known as Whoops!) to sell nearly $1 billion in bonds to continue the project, construction was halted, and the entire project was cancelled. The financing failure was one of the largest municipal bond defaults in U.S. history. It was determined that demolition of the buildings, which would cost $100 million, was too expensive, so the structures remain standing to this day. |
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Photo credit: Jordan Stead/SeattlePI
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Public domain photo
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The Wilkeson Coke Ovens These are remnants of the region’s coal mining boom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1877, the Northern Pacific Railway, under the leadership of Samuel Wilkeson, constructed a branch line to transport coal from the Carbon River Valley to Tacoma. These ovens, made of firebricks imported from Scotland and covered with a six-inch layer of concrete, measured approximately 8 feet high and 12 feet in diameter. A protective sandstone wall, sourced from a local Wilkeson quarry, insulated the ovens. The sandstones walls seen in the historical photos have been removed. The Wilkeson Coal and Coke Company expanded the site, with 50 more ovens added by 1891 and a peak of 160 ovens by 1902. At their height in 1916, the ovens produced 125,872 tons of coke, shipped as far as San Francisco and Alaska to fuel foundries in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. Production declined steadily after 1916 due to depleting coal reserves, competition, and shifting industrial needs. By 1937, coke production ceased, and the mine shafts were sealed. The ovens were largely abandoned, and by the 1970s, 130 of the original 160 ovens were demolished for their bricks and sandstone. Only 30 remain. |
Public domain photo
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Public domain photo
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Public domain photo
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