Kirkland History

01/20/2025

What if the steel mill Kirkland namesake Peter Kirk and his business associates started constructing on Rose Hill in 1889 had been completed? What would it had looked like and where exactly was it located? Join us, the Kirkland Heritage Society, on Zoom, this Wed., Jan 22nd, and find out! Our research team will share our findings after 5+ years of research!

No pre-registration or other BS, just click on in!

Zoom Link: http://us06web.zoom.us/j/87816211954

01/19/2025

Please join us Wednesday, January 22 at 7pm Pacific on Zoom for part 2 of our Kirkland Steel Mill deep dive! We will present our speculation on what the finished mill would have looked like and we'll explain the basics of how a 19th-century steel mill worked.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87816211954

Thanks to Kirkland Heritage Society for hosting. Please note: This is a Zoom ONLY meeting -- there will NOT be an in-person gathering at Heritage Hall!

Also, if you missed our Part 1 presentation in October, you can now watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sNQCTC3_vM

11/20/2024

‼️‼️ Tonight's presentation on the Kirkland steel mill is canceled. Current plan is for the material to be presented as the January program. KHS does not have a regular meeting in December. Stay safe out there. ‼️‼️

11/20/2024

Send a message to learn more

10/18/2024

The steel mill of the Great Western Iron and Steel Co. was the reason for Kirkland's founding in 1888. Because development stopped well short of completion and very few company records survive, a clear picture about what was intended has been extremely challenging to unearth. For over 5 years, Michael Donnelly, Mike Intlekofer, Matt McCauley, Sandy Middleton, and Kent Sullivan have done a very deep dive on this topic and are excited to share with you what they have learned.

On October 30, the team will present an overview of the steel mill endeavor and what was constructed. On November 20, the team will share their in-depth speculation on what the finished mill complex could have looked like. Both sessions will feature a meticulous CAD model of the site and its structures. Please join us for a two-part thought-provoking historical analysis of what might have been!

10/15/2024

https://kcls.bibliocommons.com/events/66a002a9aefc8df4a1181490

Meet Kirkland historian and explorer, Matthew McCauley. He will discuss the tragic sinking of the SS Pacific off the coast of Cape Flattery in 1875. To this day, it is considered to be one of the worst disasters in West-Coast maritime history.When the SS Pacific sank, all but two of the estimated fo...

06/05/2024

Check out the amazingly cool new historical markers on the Cross-Kirkland Corridor! Many thanks to Dave Tomson and SRM Development for funding this pilot project. If you are as jazzed about these as we are, please leave a comment here. We will be sharing feedback with the City. You can find these markers on the CKC where it passes through the Google campus in Houghton.

More information on our blog: https://kirklandhistory.org/2024/06/a-historic-milestone-for-the-ckc/

10/10/2023

Matt recently took some photos of the new Totem Lake Connector pedestrian and bicycle bridge, which soars through the heart of this area. You can view the photos at the bottom of the Firloch page.

https://kirklandhistory.org/1905-lwbl-ckc/1905-lwbl-firloch/

10/10/2023

Thanks to the time and talents of Noel Sherrard, the Firloch page of the Lake Washington Belt Line feature on kirklandhistory.org now has an animated map that shows the evolution of industries, spurs, and streets over the life of the line. We hope this helps you visualize the changes over time.

https://kirklandhistory.org/1905-lwbl-ckc/1905-lwbl-firloch/