National Register of Historic Places

Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant

North Bend, King County, Washington
Listed
September 10, 1997
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
97001077

About this property

Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant, also known as Cedar Falls Historic District, is a public hydroelectric plant near North Bend, Washington operated by Seattle City Light. The plant on the Cedar River was the first publicly-owned electrical generating plant for Seattle and one of the earliest in the country for a municipality of its size. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The population of Seattle grew rapidly from 3500 in 1880 to 237,000 in 1910, and the city needed to provide power to its population. Electricity was first used for street lights, and then for electric railways. Ultimately, private customers were provided electricity for lighting and appliances. The Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant's initial capacity of 3500 kilowatts was increased to 13,500 kilowatts by 1910, and further improvements brought capacity to 40,000 kilowatts. Residents of the city paid one of the country's lowest electrical rates per kilowatt hour, more than half the rate charged by the private firm Seattle Electric Company (renamed Puget Sound Power and Light).

Location

20030 Cedar Falls Rd. SE
North Bend, King County, Washington
47.41893, -121.77381

Categories

POLITICS/GOVERNMENTENGINEERINGCOMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

Camp North Bend
Listed
4 mi
North Bend Ranger Station
Industrial
4.9 mi
McGrath Cafe and Hotel-The McGrath
Industrial
5.3 mi
Selleck Historic District
Listed
5.3 mi
Norman Bridge
Industrial
6.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant listed on the National Register?

Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 10, 1997.

What type of historic resource is Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant?

Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant?

The period of significance for Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant is recorded as the listed era.

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