Georgetown Steam Plant, South Warsaw Street, King County Airport, Seattle, King County, WA

Significance: The Georgetown Steam Plant is an early reinforced concrete structure housing America's last operable examples of the "first generation" of large scale, vertical steam turbine electric generators. It is also significant as an early example of "fast track" construction advocated by Frank B. Gilbreath. The Georgetown Steam Plant is a steam-driven electrical generating station. Designed by Stone & Webster Engineering Corp., the plant was built by the Seattle Electric Company in 1906. The structure contains sixteen, 500 horsepower stirling boilers which supply steam to two vertical turbines. The smaller 1906 unit generates 3000 kilowatts and a larger 1907 unit generates 8000 kilowatts. In 1917 Seattle Electric installed a 10000 kilowatt horizontal turbine generator unit manufactured by the General Electric Company. The Georgetown Steam Plant was used primarily as a standby and peaking facility. It provided alternating current for general use and direct current for the Seattle streetcar system. It is the last operative example of vertical curtis turbines in the United States.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1440
Survey number: HAER WA-1
Building/structure dates: 1906-1908 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1917 Subsequent Work
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 78002755