Georgetown Steam Plant

All the way back to the beginning of the XX century, the big novelty was electricity: all around the world cities were trying to make use of this new wonder, with public lights, electric street cars, and more. All that required the generation of electricity, and it was at that time that Seattle decided to create a massive new power plant for that. They chose a piece of land at the estuary of the Duwamish (where, unfortunately, they could dump all the waste from the plant) and built the Georgetown steam plant: using the brand new steam turbines and coal powered boilers, they could generate more than enough electricity. Eventually they switched the boilers to use oil and some time after World War II the plant was just kept in reserve until the 70's, when it was decommissioned. Differently than almost all plants from that time, though, this plant was miraculously kept in shape, and now Seattle City Light (the power company for the city) opens the location for the public on the second Saturday of every month and volunteers tell the story of the plant. It is a great tour! The pictures don't make justice to the size of the structures: the building is a huge enclosed space with three massive steam turbines and 16 boilers, plus space to store coal or oil and machines to pump the waste into the Duwamish river. One fascinating detail is that the turbines in these pictures are the only turbines from that time still left in their original location: there are perhaps a couple more kept as monuments by GE (one of the manufacturers) but if you want to see one in pristine shape, this is the only place in the world you can do so.