Below is a collection of our research projects!
Old City Hall
Old City Hall was built in 1909 and housed the court offices, the jail, the fire department, city council chambers, and was the first building to have hot and cold running water.
It wouldn’t be long before disputes over land ownership would arise between the fire department and the police. Local businesspeople were implicated in some questionable real estate transactions.
The seat of government 1909-1910.
Wong Tsu - Wong Tsoo
Aviation Pioneer
Sen. Hasegawa said. “As Bill Boeing’s first engineer, he was a pioneer in aviation and a key figure in our state’s history. Mr. Wong’s story helps remind us of the breadth of the contributions early Chinese immigrants made to our local economy and to our country.”
Wong Tsu was born on August 10th, 1893 in Beijing China. He would arrive in Georgetown in the early days of Boeing "becoming the first engineer and the man behind the Model C, the seaplane that was Boeing’s first financial success."
He graduated from MIT with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1916. He then learned to fly at the Curtiss Flying Boat School in Buffalo, New York. In May 1916, the fledgling Boeing Airplane Company hired Wong as their first trained aeronautical engineer.
During his contribution to Boeing, he resided in Georgetown on Corson Ave S. His home was razed for industrial development but his work and life are commemorated at the Museum of Flight in a permanent exhibit.
Roadhouse
A "country inn" that served as one of Georgetown's many brothels, as well as the site of locally infamous crimes. Country Inn... Salacious and Bawdy
Meadows Racetrack
Racing fans flocked to The Meadows until horses, bicycles and cars were later replaced by airplanes. The Meadows closed in 1909, when Washington State made racetrack betting illegal.
The proximity of the interurban rail line between Seattle and Tacoma made it convenient for race fans to go to the track. Special trains ran on race days with fans crowding into cattle cars.
Georgetown Castle
Peter Gessner's Castle - Victorian mansion was built in 1902 for a blackjack dealer, Peter Gessner. He and his family moved into the home and shortly soon after Peter fell into a state after consuming Carbolic Acid. They used tit to delouse the chickens at the family farm.
The newspaper reports Peter died with a peaceful look, but did he die of suicide by poisoning or was he murdered?
The old Victorian holds many secrets. Where was Sarah's baby buried?
Did later residents fall into similar circumstance?
Steam Plant
The Georgetown Steam Plant was originally built in 1906 by Stone and Webster to provide power to the Interurban Railway. Georgetown also benefited from the electricity generated at the plant. The plant is one of the first reinforced concrete structures on the U.S. West Coast with the only remaining Curtis vertical steam turbines in existence. The building is a National Historic Landmark and local treasure.
A Warning for the Curious
A Warning to the Curious was a multi-organizational event at the Georgetown Steam Plant in December 2022.
In the photo of the Thermal Imager, a spirit or presence (dark shape) is visible, peering down on the alive people (pink and yellow) from the catwalk above the Boilers. No one was allowed up there, and a live being would show up as pink or yellow from body heat. Elsewhere in the building we experienced other odd phenomena.
Further investigations are needed. 📸 @rossaghost