Great Western Iron and Steel Company

Great Western Iron and Steel Company

Company type	Private
Industry	Iron and steel manufacturing
Founded	Seattle, Washington, United States (1888 Moss Bay America) or (1890 Great Western Iron and Steel)
Founder	Peter Kirk, Arthur A. Denny, Leigh S. J. Hunt, et al.
Defunct	1895
Headquarters	Kirkland, Washington Territory , United States
Number of locations	Kirkland Steel Mill near Forbes Lake

The Great Western Iron and Steel Company was established in the 1890s in Kirkland, Washington by industrialist Peter Kirk with the goal of creating a fully integrated smelting and steel production facility to process regional ore into steel products such as rails for industrial applications. The enterprise aimed to dominate the steel market along the entire Pacific Coast. Nevertheless, the company succumbed to bankruptcy amid the Panic of 1893, and its nearly finished steel mill never commenced production. This initiative marked the final significant private investment to erect a comprehensive iron and steel manufacturing plant on the West Coast.

Rise and decline of Great Western Iron and Steel

Peter Kirk, an experienced steel industry leader originally from England, collaborated with prominent figures including Member of Parliament Charles James Valentine, who had interests through their ownership of Moss Bay Hematite Iron Company in Workington, Cumberland.

In the Washington Territory, discoveries of iron ore near Snoqualmie Pass combined with emerging coal deposits in King County’s Cascades foothills presented promising raw material sources, although during the 1880s metallurgical coal continued to be imported from Australia.

During a visit in 1886, when his British firm supplied rails for the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, Kirk recognized these resources alongside growing local demand. By 1887, substantial rail imports from Britain highlighted the market potential. Initial development plans targeted production within King County within two years. Although Tacoma briefly vied to host the facility, by mid-1888 the site was chosen between Houghton and Juanita—areas that would later be incorporated into Kirkland.

In August 1888, Moss Bay Iron and Steel Company of America was formed with principal trustees including Denny, Kirk, and publisher Leigh S. J. Hunt. The company secured 120 acres at Forbes Lake for constructing the steel mill. Despite placing orders for equipment and materials, financial difficulties arose by late 1889.

To continue advancing the project, Great Western Iron and Steel was incorporated in June 1890 with a capital investment of $1 million. Trustees remained Kirk, Hunt, and Denny along with new investors aiming to leverage regional resources and enhance steel manufacturing capacity on the Pacific Coast.

Development of the Kirkland Steel Mill

By mid-1890, site clearing commenced around Forbes Lake. In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison visited Kirkland aboard the sidewheeler Kirkland to evaluate prospects for a Lake Washington Ship Canal. This canal was intended to streamline shipment of finished steel products to markets across America and Asia but was only completed in the early 20th century.

Construction continued through 1891–1892. An 1892 issue of the Tacoma Ledger showcased photographs depicting completed structures such as the depot, coal bunker, and iron works buildings. Industry directories from 1892 and 1894 recorded completion of facilities including foundry, machine and pattern shops, as well as ore bunkers; however, the coke stack was never erected.

Steel plant — buildings and structures (from Sherrard 1962)

Structure	Dimensions	Notes
Sawmill
Blast furnaces	Each furnace 75 feet (23 m) tall	Weekly capacity of 1,500 tons pig iron per furnace; thousands of tons of firebrick imported from England.
Rolling mill	At least 320 feet (98 m) in length	Completion status uncertain
Foundry		Included a small blast furnace capable of producing 30-ton castings
Machine shop		Equipment sourced from Glasgow, Scotland; transported around Cape Horn arriving March 7, 1891.
Blacksmith shop
Pattern department
Engine houses for blast furnaces	each (two engines)	Engines measured 84 ft long with 42-inch diameter pistons; machinery imported from England.
Boilers (12)	30 ft long each
Cast house	ft
Ore and coal bunkers	ft; height 34 ft	Thirty ore bins with an 18,000-ton capacity as of March 1891; rail tracks ran both above and below bunkers; additional trestles were planned.

The mill was situated on Forbes Lake’s eastern shore between the lake itself and what is now known as 124th Avenue Northeast in Kirkland. Historically referred to by various names including Little Lake and Steel Works Lake, Forbes Lake remains its official designation today. Archival documentation indicates that some foundations may still exist near the current Kirkland Costco warehouse or Rose Hill Presbyterian Church; however, recent investigations have not definitively confirmed this. The original property owned by Great Western was roughly bounded by NE 85th Street to the south, Forbes Lake Park to the north, 116th Avenue NE on the west side, and 124th Avenue NE on the east side.

Supporting facilities

The project’s infrastructure encompassed lakefront storage warehouses constructed in 1890 to house equipment and raw materials, alongside a sawmill that was producing approximately 3,000,000 board feet of lumber by early 1891. Additionally, extensive water pipelines were installed, drawing from Lake Washington and Forbes Lake, and a railroad station was established at Piccadilly Street (currently known as Slater and 7th Avenue/NE 87th Street) in anticipation of a Northern Pacific Railway connection.

Collapse

Major obstacles included transportation difficulties with railroad companies, setbacks in the completion of the planned Lake Washington Ship Canal—which was delayed following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889—and insufficient market research and strategic planning. Rivalry between Tacoma and Seattle further impeded development; because the Northern Pacific Railroad was based in Tacoma, it refused to extend rail service that would benefit Seattle, thereby restricting Kirkland’s rail access. The financial crisis of 1893 led investors to default on their stock commitments, leaving the company without the capital necessary to finalize construction or begin operations. In June 1895, a court decision returned ownership of company assets to the original landholders, effectively rendering Great Western insolvent.

After the bankruptcy, coal mining operations persisted under British-owned Durham Coal Mine—38% controlled by Balfour, Guthrie—but these efforts yielded disappointing results.

Kirkland following Great Western Iron and Steel

Peter Kirk and his partners are credited as the city’s founders. Although the steel mill itself no longer stands, Kirkland retains historic buildings associated with it, such as Kirk’s 1891 brick office building—the Peter Kirk Building—recognized as the oldest commercial structure on the Eastside of Lake Washington. The layout of downtown streets and parcel dimensions still reflect the initial company town design inspired by Pullman, Illinois, America’s first planned industrial community. Street signage in downtown displays dual names, combining current names with original 19th-century titles that honor U.S. presidents and English steel industry heritage (examples include Monroe, Piccadilly, Victoria, Sheffield).

Bibliography

• {{citation|title=Kirkland Thumbnail History|id=208|first=Alan J. |last=Stein|date=October 25, 1998|}

Further reading

• The Rise and Fall of Peter Kirk by Alan Stein (1998), Bellevue College
• Peter Kirk's 'Pittsburgh of the West', Kirkland Reporter, August 27, 2008, Irene Vlitos-Rowe

External links

• 1892 foundry image at University of Washington digital collections
• 1895 steel works image at University of Washington digital collections