From Washington to you
Georgetown
Georgetown · King County · annexed April 11, 1910
Seattle’s last small-town annexation of the 1900s still holds a National Historic Landmark steam plant on the Duwamish.
Seattle Municipal Archives say eight small towns joined the city between 1905 and 1910 and nearly doubled its area. Six came in 1907, including Ballard, Columbia, South Park, and West Seattle. Georgetown was last. It incorporated in 1904 and was annexed on April 11, 1910. After that date the archives say no large annexations came until the early 1950s.
Seattle City Light places the Georgetown Steam Plant at the center of that growing town. The Seattle Electric Company built it in 1906–1907 on 18 acres along the Duwamish River. City Light says its two vertical Curtis turbines helped show that a steam turbine could make large amounts of power more cheaply than other generators then in use. The plant is a National Historic Landmark, a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, a Seattle Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
City Light says the plant has not produced electricity in more than 70 years. It now offers free public tours next to Boeing Field. The sources below are the City of Seattle municipal archives and Seattle City Light.
- History
- Science / Strange Washington
Sources (3)
government · Tier S
U.S. Geological SurveyGeorgetown (GNIS 1512237)
government · Tier S
Seattle City LightGeorgetown Steam Plant
government · Tier S
City of Seattle Municipal ArchivesAnnexed Cities
Last reviewed: September 21, 2026
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