Peter Kirk 1840-1916
Peter Kirk was a British-born industrialist and visionary who founded the city of Kirkland, Washington, in the late 1880s with ambitious dreams of creating the "Pittsburgh of the West". Hoping to capitalize on newly discovered regional iron ore and coal deposits, he spearheaded the construction of the massive Great Western Iron and Steel Company on the eastern shore of Lake Washington. Although the ambitious project was abruptly bankrupted by the national Panic of 1893 before a single ingot of steel was ever poured, the townsite he carefully platted survived the economic collapse. Kirk eventually retired to the San Juan Islands, where he died in 1916, but his namesake city ultimately thrived as a regional center for shipbuilding and modern commerce.
Biographical Overview
- Lived from 1840 to 1916
- Born: Feb 15, 1840, Townend, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, England
- Died: May 4, 1916, Friday Harbor, Washington
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Bibliography for Peter Kirk
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The pioneering life of Peter Kirk from Derbyshire to the Pacific Northwest by Saundra Middleton
Peter Kirk, Esq. tracked the world iron markets diligently. He had to. Kirk employed 1000 men and boys in his integrated iron and steel works in Workington, England. Britain's market share was losing ground to America's burgeoning steel industry. In 1886, he sailed from Workington flush with decades of success in Britain's Victorian era rail expansion. - from the publisher
ix, 293 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Non-circulating [ 1 ]
Entry Details
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Last updated: 2026-09-29